An Important Key in the Battles to Come
by StarMaster7
Summary: What if, on that fateful night in the prison, Emma had not only Henry, but twins? This is the story of a girl - a girl who finds her family, who discovers who she really is, and will be a key in the battles to come. (My twist on the series. Will mostly follow the episodes. (Mostly ;) ) Rated T only for some fights and such. You watch it, you should be fine. Please enjoy, and R&R!)
1. Off to Storybrooke

Hello everybody! This idea came to me yesterday, and I've been writing ever since! I love this idea and have lots of plans for this. So please R&R! Even the smallest review motivates me to write faster!

Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT (though I do own the girl. . . who I'm not going to name until the next chapter. . . *evil grin*)

Note: This begins during the time Episode 9 ('True North') would take place, but the events don't actually happen. (Ava and Nick's story was pretty much only that episode, so I found it a good place to take over. Oh, and August has yet to arrive) Hope that's not too confusing! Enjoy!

* * *

She sat in a bus. Not a very crowded bus, but enough. Just enough. She was the youngest there on that old bus - probably the youngest to take this route. She was only 10, after all. The driver had looked at her strangely when she boarded with only a backpack and no adult with her or saying good-bye, like with most children, but after she left his view he didn't bother worrying about it anymore. As the bus began to leave from the boarding dock, her mind drifted back to the morning, and the events that had occurred. . .

_ . . . "Wake up! Wake up!" went the voice of the old hag who owned the orphanage. The girl had already been awake, but she pretended to be asleep just to annoy her. The old woman treated her like a slave, making her and the other children doing all the work. The only thing she did for them was give them a bed and meager meals.  
_

_ After the morning chores, the girl grabbed her bag, knowing it was now or never. She slipped out of the orphanage - the only home she had known, and one that she hated - and quickly left, trying to look inconspicuous among the crowds of people. She checked her watch. Seeing as she had better hurry, the girl pulled out her city map, quickly located the Greyhound boarding dock. Asking for directions along the way, the girl eventually made it. The moment she stepped on that bus, she knew her life was truly beginning. . . . _

* * *

After a couple hours, the girl had grown bored, watching the landscape pass by the whole way. The landscape didn't change much - only switching from woods to town to highway and back to woods. It eventually grew tiring to continue to watch, so she turned to the backpack laying on the seat next to her. Opening the zipper, she pulled out a manila folder. Nothing special about it - you could find it in most places. The girl had managed to grab it before leaving the orphanage. She laughed quietly to herself, imagining the old hag's reaction to her disappearance.

Carefully, as not to harm them, she slid out a packet of papers. It was a rather large packet, more than she realized. It could easily fill a book, and a large one at that. The papers were covered in her handwriting, and at some points, the ink would change color, due to her loosing a pen or it running out of ink. These papers were important for some reason the girl did not yet understand. To most who looked, it was a story. A fantastical story of love and adventure. But to the girl, it was more. They were dreams. Incredible dreams that she knew had to be remembered. She was in a frantic rush to write everything down before it slipped away, like so many dreams did. As she re-read them for the who-knows-how-many-th time, clips of her dreams came back to her, clear as day, like she was there, watching them happen. . . .

_. . . A huntsman, armed in black and too much armor, stood over a young lady, clothed in white, ready to die. Knife in hand, the huntsman, instead of killing the princess, aided her, boding her to run. She did. But with that action, he had condemned himself to slavery - slavery to the Queen. . . . _

_ . . . "Papa!" the boy yelled, his grip on the hand keeping him in this world loosening. "No! I can't!" The man yelled in reply, desperately gripping a dagger lodged in the soil. The green, swirling vortex was almost gone. "You coward!" the boy screamed, as he fell into the portal, "You promised!. . . . "_

_ . . . A man stood over his wife, both in tears, the woman hugging the precious bundle in her arms. She took one last, loving look at her daughter. "Good-bye, Emma. . . ." she whispered, sorrow and regret in her voice. She planted a kiss on the newborn's forehead, then passed her to her husband. He left the room, sword in one hand, his daughter in the other, determined to get her to the wardrobe. . . . _

She shook herself out of the flashbacks. It had started a couple of weeks ago, these strangely livid dreams. A voice greeted her each night, and each night she learned more and delved deeper into these. . . these memories. Every morning, when she woke, the girl would frantically write everything down. Some of it she didn't even remember. The papers wrote themselves, she just holding the pen.

The dreams seemed to last all night, and each morning she woke with the perfect amount of time to write everything down. Sometimes she would look back at her handiwork and would be amazed that it was possible to do so much in so short of a time.

Then, only a few days ago, the visions stopped. The voice told her what had happened, where she needed to go. What she needed to do. So the girl had made preparations (sadly having to steal at some points, which she found she was quite good at) and sneaked out of the orphanage, onto the Greyhound and into some random town in Maine.

The girl slid the precious papers back inside the folder, and slid that in her bag. Groping around the clothing she had stuffed in there, she pulled out a map. It was of the nearby region of the town the Greyhound would leave her in. The town itself meant nothing to her. It was the hand-drawn circle on the coastline, north-east of the town the bus was headed, that mattered. The circle was marked in the same handwriting found on the papers. It was marked "Storybrooke."

To her surprise and relief, the bus driver announced that they would be arriving soon. And they did. The girl happily left the old bus, only to be greeted by a completely foreign town. Houses and buildings towered over her, but behind her was the forest, buildings replaced by trees.

With a grin, she entered the woods in front of her, map and compass in hand, fearless, and, of all things, happy. Her new life was ahead of her. "Well," she said to herself with a sigh, "Off to Storybrooke."

* * *

Everything was fine until about 45 minutes after she had started. The girl was used to a lot of walking (for as long as she could remember, the hag had worked her daily. Physical work was easy for her now), and didn't mind the distance. It was at that time, sometime in the evening (later than she wanted - the Greyhound had hit a traffic jam at one point) that it started to drizzle. Not a lot of rain, but enough for discomfort. The girl, who had come prepared, pulled a rain jacket from her bag and put it on. The bag itself was waterproof, so she didn't worry about the stuff inside getting wet.

After about 30 or 40 minutes after the rain had begun, the drizzle had shifted into a downpour. Lightning streaked across the sky, and the thunder roared as the rain beat down mercilessly. The girl was now running as fast as she could, soaking wet, knowing she wasn't far.

The lightning flashed again, illuminating a figure. A silver-gray wolf stood nearby, watching her with eyes that reflected wisdom and intelligence. The girl stopped, worried about what it might do. It stood only 25-ish feet away, about 2:00 on the clock face. It had a kind of sadness to it, like it once had a friend, was once loved, and now was rejected and lost, with no one.

Trying not to provoke it, she continued cautiously, not letting it leave her sight. The wolf did not move, but eventually, the girl was walking backwards, watching the beast. Her neglect to watch where she was going in the harsh storm caused her to trip, sending her tumbling down the hillside. Too surprised and too weak from the pounding of the storm to scream, she continued to fall. She tried catching herself, but her efforts ceased when her skull collided with a rock. After that she tumbled like a rag-doll, until she reached the bottom. There she lay, head thumping with pain, blond curls spread out. Her jacket was covered in mud and dirt, and the rain continued to pour relentlessly. At the top of the ridge stood the wolf, watching over the poor girl's body as the thunder roared again.

* * *

Yay! Cliffhanger! (almost literally)

Be prepared for cliffhangers. I have lots planned. :)

Please review! It only takes a minute, but it means the world to me! Thanks for reading!


	2. I'm Looking for an Emma

Yay! Thank you people who bothered to read this! It really means a lot to me! Cookies! *hands out cookies*

Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT. (Hmm. . . there's something I could wish for. . . ;) )

* * *

All she knew at first was blackness. Blackness, and the rhythmic thumping in her head. It wasn't thumping with pain anymore - not much, anyway. She was half-asleep, but could feel herself waking up, leaving the blackness. She was relieved. The blackness was dull and lifeless. She had been in it for too long. As she continued to rise from her slumber, she could hear voices in the background.

"Dr. Whale, she's waking up."

"I'll be there in a moment."

She heard footsteps, and a door opening and closing. Forcing herself out of the black, she opened her eyes to be greeted by a nurse and a man, the man she presumed was Dr. Whale. The girl pried herself up, so now she sat upright in the bed, and discovered an IV in her right arm. She looked at the doctor. "Where - where am I?" she croaked, like at first it was an unfamiliar action.

"Shh. . . ." said the doctor, "I'm Dr. Whale. You're in the Storybrooke Hospital." Well, that told the girl that she had made it, at least. But how she got there was the next question. "How - How did I get here?" she attempted, becoming quickly accustomed to using her voice again. "We received a call last night that an unconscious girl was lying just outside of Storybrooke - and they were right. You took quite a fall there - you've been out for two days."

Those last two words surprised her. Two days? Unconscious? No wonder she had trouble talking at first. And that would also explain the UV. Her mind drifted back to that evening, trying to remember. There was a storm. . . and a wolf. . . and. . . "My bag! Where's my bag?!" she suddenly asked, frantically searching around her bed. "It's in the other room - just calm down!" ordered the doctor.

Hearing that her belongings were safe, she took a couple deep breaths, calm again. Dr. Whale sighed. "Tell me - what's your name?"

"Lia. My name is Lia."

"Well, Lia, we'll have to keep you for one more day, then you'll be home free. Who's your family? Do they know you're here?"

"I don't have one."

Dr. Whale paused, pondering the situation. He didn't know how to deal with an orphan, he never had, but his dilemma was interrupted when, a couple moments later, something on the wall buzzed. "That's me. Well, enjoy your stay, then, Lia." He left the room, letting the door swing open. The nurse that had been there before was still in the room. She hadn't said anything since Dr. Whale had come in. Lia turned to her. "I came to Storybrooke looking for someone. I'm looking for an "Emma". Is there an "Emma" here?"

Lia's mind returned to one of the more recent dreams. Blond hair, similar to her own, but longer; green eyes, contrary to Lia's brown ones; and a red jacket. For some reason, the jacket was important. Her memories were interrupted by the nurse's reply.

"Actually, we do. She just became Sheriff. Why?"

"It's. . . hard to explain," replied Lia, knowing her response was at least half right. The nurse nodded sympathetically.

"Well. . . I'll leave you to rest, then," she said after a brief pause. The nurse exited the room, leaving only Lia and the hospital machinery in the room. Lia could feel herself falling asleep again, to her surprise. The short conversation had taken a lot out of her, which made sense, seeing as she had been out for two days. This time, she welcomed it, as it was natural sleep coming, not unconsciousness. Her eyes drifted shut, and she fell asleep.

* * *

After her nap (which felt great and left her refreshed), a nurse walked in with a platter of food. It was dinnertime, which Lia would learn later. She nibbled at the soup at first, then dug in, pleased to actually eat something physical instead of living off of the IV. When she was done, the nurse left, leaving Lia alone, who then slipped asleep for the last time in that room. . .

When she awoke, Lia was relieved. For the first time in her life, she would know who she was. She would meet her family – something she had dreamed of her whole life. Prying herself up again, she noticed the IV was gone – she didn't realize it during her meal, but it was gone then too. The man from yesterday, Dr. Whale, walked in. "Well, Lia, I suppose you can go now – do you even have anywhere to go? You did say - "

"Actually, I do. Well, now anyways. Um. . . where would my bag be?" she asked. The doctor didn't like this feeling – of being unprofessional, not knowing what to do. He tried to hide it, to keep it to himself, as he led her into another room, where he pulled out the backpack. Lia took a quick scan of the interior – everything was there. She let out a sigh of relief. "Now, do you need help? A drive-?"

"Nope! Thanks!" called Lia, who had already left the room before the doctor could say any more, and was racing down the stairs. She had always been a free spirit, and disliked the cramped hospital. No one tried to stop her, so she kept going until she opened the front door and took a look at the town outside.

It wasn't a typical town you would see nowadays. The town seemed. . . trapped. Stuck in time. Unable to move forward. It was quaint, but didn't seem very old, though one wouldn't call it new either. It was stuck in the middle, something Lia hadn't seen before. Standing outside of the hospital, she inhaled deeply. The scent of the ocean filled her. She liked the smell of the salty water. Maybe it was because it was foreign to her. Walking proudly, she left the hospital grounds, and walked toward what she thought looked like a Main Street.

It must have been strange, seeing a new 10-year-old girl walking around by herself. The town was small – she assumed it was one of those that everybody knew everybody. The city the orphanage was in was rather large, and even if she knew people other than those from the orphanage and the few people that visited, she would doubt she would ever meet half of the people there, much less everybody.

Half-way down Main Street, Lia realized she didn't know where the Sheriff's station was. She stopped walking, and looked around. Further up the block, something caught her eye. It was a sign that said "Granny's Diner". Thinking it would be a good place to start, Lia set off toward the diner. She climbed up the steps and opened the door, to be greeted by a bell jingling.

Not many people were in the diner when Lia walked in. The restaurant had a friendly atmosphere to it – she liked it. At one of the booths was a waitress checking on a couple munching on their brunch. The waitress had red streaked in her hair, but Lia didn't really care too much about appearances. She did just arrive. She would have time to get to know the other people living in Storybrooke later. Lia walked up to the brown and red-headed waitress.

"Excuse me?" she asked. The waitress turned to face the 10-year-old. "Can I help you?" she replied, smiling. Lia smiled back. "I'm looking for the Sheriff's station." "You're looking for Emma?" Lia nodded. "Well, you sure look like her," laughed the waitress. "I'm Ruby." "Lia." "Well, Lia, when you leave the diner, you're going to turn right. . . "

A couple minutes later, Lia left the diner, knowing exactly where she was going. Ruby had given her simple directions, and she was relieved to find it wasn't far. After a few minutes of walking, she arrived at the station. The girl walked inside, down the hallway, until she reached an open door. A sign on the door's window labeled it as the Sheriff's office. She paused. Here she was, about to meet her mother. Something every orphan dreams of. Summoning up her courage, she managed to raise her fist and knock twice on the wooden door.

"Yeah?" came the response from inside. Taking a deep breath, she walked into the office. Towards the back were two cells, currently unoccupied. In the middle was a desk. On one side of the desk sat what looked to be an older version of herself. There were some differences, but otherwise, it looked like Lia in the future. On the other side sat a boy, probably her age, with short black hair and eyes like her own. "Are you Emma Swan?" asked Lia, who was standing in the middle of the room now. "Yeah. You need something?" replied the Sheriff. She took a deep breath. "My name is Lia. I'm. . . I'm your daughter."

* * *

"Lia" is pronounced the same as the name "Leah", just so you know.

Next chapter we get the happy family reunion and meet a stalker who knows everything. _Everything._ *Booming evil laughter*

Please review! If it will make you review and stay with the story, I have lots of future chapters planned!


	3. You Had Twins? I Have a Sister?

Wow. Two chapters in the same day. I surprise myself.

Unless I happen to get another short-ish chapter, this probably won't happen again. But it might!

Like I said, this is the happy reunion and the stalker. Sorry if it's not as detailed (and I know it's not as long) as the first two - but the next two chapters will be longer and important. So stick with me! Thanks again for reading!

Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT. (Why don't I just put that in the description to save time? Hmm. . . .)

* * *

The Sheriff, who wasn't expecting such a bombshell, froze. Her face paled. She had stood up when the girl came in, and now all she could do was stand there. "What?" she asked quietly, in disbelief. Henry, sitting next to her, seemed just as shocked, if not more, than she was.

Lia bit her lip, nervous of what her mother's reaction might be. "Ten years ago, you had twins, right?" Lia didn't know how she knew this, but it came out anyway. She assumed it was something she didn't remember from one of her dreams. "I. . . . I was one of them. I was the girl."

If it was possible, Emma's face paled even more. She saw herself in the blond kid standing there. Not just in appearance - though she did - but in that look of abandonment seen in every orphan. It was a look and a feeling she loathed. And the words the kid chose brought her back a month, back to her apartment in Boston, when Henry stopped by. A tear fell down Emma's cheek as she stood there.

Lia waited for a response. It had been several moments since she last spoke. It was the boy who cut the silence. "E-Emma? You had twins? I. . . I have a sister?" he asked in disbelief. Emma crouched down to his eye level. She was tearing up. "Yeah," she sniffled, "I. . . I didn't know what had happened. To either one of you. I wanted both of you to have your best chance. I didn't want to tell you about it since you'd probably never meet," she laughed, "Seems I was wrong."

She turned to Lia. "Kid? You got a home?" she asked. Now it was Lia's turn to cry. "Never. My whole life has been in the orphanage and the old hag never cared for us. I had no family, no friends. . . " Lia felt the tears flow as the words tumbled out. Emma walked over to her daughter and embraced her in a hug. Unlike when Henry first arrived, something told Emma that this was her daughter. The second of her twins. There was no doubt on either side. Mother and daughter both knew it was true.

"Well, lucky for you, kid," said Emma, pulling away to look at her daughter's face, "You do now." Lia smiled and hugged her again.

Now it was Henry's turn, who had been standing there, trying to process everything. "So. . . You're my sister," he said slowly. Lia nodded, sniffling. Henry smiled, disbelief replaced by joy. "Wow! We're twins! I have a sister! I'm a brother!" he cried happily. Now sister and brother hugged, together for the first time in a decade.

Emma wiped her nose. "Come on, kids. I have to take you home, Henry." Henry sighed, disappointed. Lia readjusted the bag on her shoulders. "Where. . . um. . . Where can I stay?" Emma shot her a clever grin. "Ever used a sleeping bag before? You're coming with me, Lia," she said, using her daughter's name for the first time.

Lia smiled back as the threesome left the building and climbed into the yellow bug waiting outside. Things had gone better than Lia could've planned. She had a mother, a brother and a place to stay. She couldn't remember a day that had been better as the bug backed up and left the lot.

* * *

Standing across the road was a man. He was far enough so that Emma, Henry and Lia didn't seem to take any notice of him. He didn't move, the coastal wind blowing around him. His hand squeezed the cane it was resting on for a brief second, then let go. A triumphant smile crossed his face as the bug drove off. Satisfied, he hobbled back to the pawnshop, no one having noticed his short absence.

* * *

He. Knows. EVERYTHING. *cue thunder*

There's my tiny chapter that had to be put in here. Don't worry - the next one will be longer. And we meet Mr. Stalker again. And in the chapter after that. Now that I think about it, we'll be seeing him a lot. Mr. Stalker knows everything.

(No - wait. It's my story. I know everything. He knows a lot of things though. But it's still creepy. XD)

I promise the next chapter will be MUCH longer. Please review! More reviews = I type faster! :)


	4. A Home, A Pawnbroker, and A Book

Hello everyone! Here's chapter four!

Thank you to all who've reviewed/followed/favorited already! It's more than I could ask for!

To TheWriter-2012's review: I know they'd never actually do that, but I really wanted to move the story along, and I already have future chapters planned out, so I wanted to stick with what I had, and not redo it. My poor excuse is that Dr. Whale had never dealt with it before. ;) But thank you for that. And yes, I know it's IV. I was really tired that day. ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT.

* * *

As the bug rumbled down the small town road, there was an air of excitement in the car, mixed with joy and disbelief. It was hard to pinpoint which one was the most prominent. Lia couldn't fathom what was going through her mother's head based on her expression in the mirror, but she had guesses. Happiness, completion, joy. It could be all or none of those. All Lia knew was that was what she felt.

The sound of a pencil scratching on paper interrupted her thinking. She turned to the boy sitting next to her. Her brother. It had a foreign yet fitting sound to it. Henry folded the piece of paper, and with his other hand, put a finger over his lips, the unofficial international symbol for 'shh'. But it looked playful, as he was smiling as he did so. Lia nodded in response, smiling back.

Eventually, the bug turned onto a 'Mifflin Street'. Half way down, the car stopped behind some shrubs, and towering behind the plants was a giant, white, castle-like house. Opening the door, both Henry and Emma exited the car. Lia stayed put, as Henry told her on the way that they were going to his adoptive mother's house. Emma crouched down to meet her son. "For now, don't tell Regina about Lia, okay? Let me handle it." Henry replied with a thumbs-up, "No problem."

They hugged, and Henry ran off to the entrance of the house. But not before waving to Lia, who waved in return as he disappeared behind the shrubs. Her hand drifted down to rest on her knee, when it touched the corner of what felt like paper. Surprised, she picked it up and opened it. In Henry's handwriting, the small note said:

_Tomorrow_

_7:15 AM_

_Granny's_

Smiling, she slid it into her pocket as Emma re-entered the car, and the bug sped off, like Emma didn't want to be seen.

* * *

After a short drive back through the main part of town, the bug arrived at an apartment building. They climbed a few flights of stairs until they came to a door, which Emma unlocked with a key on her key ring. The door swung open to reveal a woman with short black hair standing at an island in the kitchen. She gave Emma a confused look. "Emma? Who's this?"

"I'm Lia," the 10-year-old happily supplied. Based on the woman's expression, that didn't explain anything. "She - uh, she's my. . . my daughter," Emma stuttered. The woman looked shocked. "I thought Henry was your child?" "Well. . . um. . . I had. . . twins," replied Emma in a quiet tone. To the surprise of both her and Lia, the woman hugged Emma. "Oh, Emma. . . this is wonderful! You. . . you found your family. Well, the rest of it, anyways," she added. "Just. . .wow."

The woman looked at Lia. "Well, she looks like you, at least," she remarked, looking from one's face to the others. Emma smiled weakly in reply. "Do we have a sleeping bag?" she asked after a few moments of silence. "Yes, but why - " "Lia needs somewhere to sleep." "Oh. . . " she said, nodding. "Well, I'll go get it. It's nice to meet you, Lia. I'm Mary Margaret."

Lia smiled in reply, and Mary Margaret left the room, only to shortly return, carrying a rolled up sleeping bag in her arms. Nothing special about it - just a regular sleeping bag. "Where would you like to sleep?" "Anywhere's fine."

* * *

The rest of the day was spent in that apartment, as the three talked and talked. Lia spoke of the orphanage, the hag, the few children there who she could maybe call 'friends'. . . Pretty much her life story. Once she was done rambling (which actually didn't take very long - she didn't have too much to talk about. But the dreams she kept to herself. She didn't feel ready to share that just yet), Emma and Mary Margaret took their turn, telling the former orphan all about the small harbor town of Storybrooke. She learned about the people, including Granny, Archie, Regina, Ruby, Mr. Gold, Dr. Whale, and some others. They just sat in that room, talking, letting the hours go by. Eventually, they took out, made, and ate some microwave pizzas (no one really felt like cooking). When night fell, Lia climbed into the (now her) sleeping bag, her precious backpack next to her, and quickly drifted off to sleep.

The two women watched her body calmly rise and fall as Lia slept. "So. . . now what?" asked Mary Margaret. Emma sighed. "I never thought I'd see either one of them again. And now I have both. Well, almost. Regina still legally has Henry. But Lia. . . her life was like what mine was. Except she never went through the foster system," replied Emma, who was watching her daughter rest, "I want them - her and Henry - to be happy."

"So she's staying?" "Is it okay?" "Oh! Of course. You know, she reminds me of both you and Henry at the same time." Emma smiled at that. "Thank you, Mary Margaret." "She even packs as light as you." That brought smiles to both of their faces.

After a celebratory drink, the two women went off to bed. Emma took one last look at her daughter, smiled, and went to her room.

* * *

The next morning, Lia awoke from a peaceful night of rest. No crazy vision dreams, not sleeping in a hospital - a normal night of sleep. She loved it. Trying to calm down her horrible-looking bedhead, she checked her watch. 7:00 AM. Remembering the note her brother had left her, she pulled out a fresh set of clothing from her bag (it was a big backpack) and changed - no one was in the room but her so far. Once she looked decent, she grabbed her bag. Emma had woken up and was munching on cereal. "Where you going?" she asked, still tired. "Meeting Henry. Got to go!" replied Lia, as she closed the door behind her, leaving a confused Emma to continue her morning.

Five or so minutes later, the same bell she had heard yesterday greeted her as she entered Granny's. To her delight, Henry sat in one of the booths. Smiling, she joined him. "You got the note!" "Of course I did - why else would I be here?" The waitress, Ruby, she remembered, came over with two cocoas. "Thanks Ruby," said Henry. Lia laughed. "Why'd you order two if I might've not come?" "You're my sister - I kinda knew you'd show up." She laughed as she took a sip of cocoa. "Hope you like cinnamon," said Henry. "Actually, I do."

Henry opened his own backpack, which was sitting next to him. Opening the zipper, he said, "I need to show you something - " He was interrupted by the door opening and a man walking in. Footsteps, followed by the 'thud' of a cane sounded as he walked up to the counter. He ordered something, which was quickly delivered by Ruby. The room had gone silent for a second, everybody glaring at the sharply dressed man. He seemed not to mind. Lia felt her heart stop when the clearly-disliked man stopped at their booth on the way out.

"Hello Henry," he said, in an accent Lia hadn't heard before, "Who's your friend?" "I'm. . . Lia. . . " she replied quietly. "Lia? What a lovely name. Have fun, you two," he said as he left the diner. The people returned to their meals, like he had never come in. "Who. . . was that?" she asked. "Mr. Gold. You don't make deals with him. People don't really like him." "I can tell. . . "

Henry now pulled out an old, thick brown book and set it on the table. On the cover, in brilliant gold lettering, it said 'Once Upon A Time'. "This book. . . . they look like fairytales, but everything in here actually happened. The Evil Queen cursed everybody and sent them here. . . "

For the next ten minutes, or maybe half an hour - Lia wasn't paying attention to the time - Henry talked about the curse, the characters, who was who, that Emma was the savior - the basic speech he gives to everyone he wants to believe. It fascinated Lia. She had always been a fan of fantasy tales, and grabbed books and read them whenever she could. But this. . . . this was more. This was real, according to her brother. And the tale Henry spoke of. . . . reminded Lia of something. . . .

"Can I have a look?" she asked. "Sure," he replied, sliding it across the table. Lia flipped it open to a random page. On one side was a picture of a torch. On the other side, it talked of Snow White and Prince Charming meeting with Rumpelstiltskin, learning about the curse Henry spoke of. But she felt. . . she felt like she knew about it already. Then it hit her. She pulled out the precious packet from her bag, and flipped it to one of the pages. There wasn't any pictures, but other than hers being hand-written and worded differently, it was the same. The characters were the same. The scenario was the same. It ended the same. The dialogue was the same.

Her mind was racing as she read the two pages together over and over, pieces falling into place, gears turning. Henry looked concerned. "Lia? You okay?" "Henry. This. . . this is all real. . . y-you're right. . . " "You believe me?" "More than that. I know." She put her papers away and gave the book back. Lia began to pack up, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "Where are you going?" he asked. "To Mr. Gold," she said as she left the diner. For a moment, Henry stood there, dumbfounded. Then he grabbed his stuff and chased after her. "Lia? Lia!"

* * *

And it begins. *cue thunder (again)*

People who have read this, I really, really appreciate it. And I'll say it again: More reviews = I type faster! Which means the cliffhanger ends faster! ;D

Thank you again for reading! I'll try to update daily (maybe twice daily sometimes) but it depends what I have going on. So stay with me and enjoy!


	5. Things Kept To Myself

Thank you everyone for reading - chapter 5 is now up! It's a short, but important chapter. Plenty of things to think about in here. ;)

Note: I won't be able to update until either Saturday night or sometime on Monday. July 4th plans. . . yeah. But enjoy this chapter, and have fun guessing! ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT. (I really should just put it in the description. . . . )

* * *

"Lia! Lia, wait!" Henry called after his sister. Lia sighed and stopped, the pawnshop just up ahead. She turned around to meet her brother. "Lia - why do you want to go there?" Lia smiled weakly, knowing she couldn't speak of this yet. Not just yet. "Because he knows something, Henry. Something about the curse. Something about. . . me."

Henry looked at her, puzzled. She put her hands on his shoulders. "I'll explain - I promise. But for now, I need to keep a few things to myself." Henry nodded. This was his sister - he trusted her. But that didn't diminish his confusion or his curiosity at all. The two 10-year-olds passed under the sign advertising the pawnshop as they opened the door and walked in.

Lia could tell immediately that she didn't like it there. It was cold, and all kinds of things were in the shop, some seeming like they didn't belong here. Didn't belong in this world. Like they weren't from this world. A pair of ugly puppets stared at them from one counter. Farther up was a beautiful glass mobile of unicorns. Countless other things littered the shop. And behind the far counter, polishing something she couldn't make out, was the same man who had stopped at their booth earlier that morning.

"Henry. Lia. What can I do for you two today?" he asked. Lia wasted no time. "You know something." Mr. Gold laughed at that. "Yes, that's true - I know a lot of things. What do you speak of in particular?" He was staring intently now at the girl who stood in the middle of the shop. Her brother stood behind Lia, trying to look strong, but it was Lia who held the man's gaze, staring defiantly back.

"You know something about me. You know who I am. We've met before. How?" she asked. Mr. Gold paused, leaning back on his good leg.

There was something about this man you could never forget. An air about him, maybe? Of power? Of respect or fear? Of darkness? It definitely wasn't a positive quality. But it was something you didn't forget. And Lia didn't. About two and a half weeks ago - that was when she felt it. It was for a single moment, and then it passed. Like bone-chilling fingers passing down her spine. She didn't bother thinking about it since then - not until Mr. Gold had stopped at their booth that morning. She felt it again. She remembered.

"I'm sorry, but I haven't seen you before this morning. If my memory later says otherwise, I'll let you know, okay?"

Lia could tell - she didn't know how, instinct, maybe? - but she could tell the pawnbroker was lying. To her disappointment, she also knew she wouldn't learn anything else from him. "Thanks anyway, Mr. Gold. Come on, Henry," she said, pulling her brother out of the shop behind her, and slamming the door on the way out.

Mr. Gold chuckled to himself after the door had shut. "She's a smart one," he remarked, "But some things I need to keep to myself."

He walked out of his pawnshop to enter his back office. At the desk sat a number of things, but he picked up a tiny flask out of everything there. Examining it, he raised it to the light, seeing a number of tiny purple flecks still attached to the glass, glittering in the light. He set it down. "I suppose I'll have to explain eventually, especially with _him_ allying with the girl. But for now," he said, starting to hobble back inside the shop, "I have to see how this plays out."

He disappeared from the office, leaving the purple flecks to continue to glitter in the office lamp's light.

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Not much explanation, but lots of hints in there. ;)

Please review and thanks again for reading!


	6. A Stranger Comes to Town

Sorry to have made you guys wait only to get a chapter without much excitement in it. But stick with me - it gets good pretty soon! Thank you everyone for reading!

Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT (still)

* * *

Lia was incredibly annoyed as she left the pawnshop. Questions, doubts and disbelief raced through her head. She ignored her brother's attempts to talk with her at first, but then she turned to him when he grabbed her shoulder. "What was that all about?" he asked. Lia sighed. "Let's go back to Granny's - this might take a while."

When the twins sat down at a booth, Lia pulled out her packet, and let him look at it. She could see confusion cross his face, then recognition, then disbelief as he scanned through the packet. "How did you - " "I don't know how. They came to me in dreams, and I wrote them down. When I saw your book, I knew it was the same. That's how I know the curse is real. And we have to do something about it."

Henry still looked dumbfounded at Lia's discovery, but he nodded, knowing that, yes, they would have to do something. They would have to help their mother break the curse. Something passed between the two of them, like they had just made a vow, a promise, and both knew they would do whatever it would take to keep it. To free everyone. To break the curse.

* * *

That evening, Emma, Henry and Lia walked down the street, talking and laughing. Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of a motorcycle. It was a foreign sound, as nobody owned a motorcycle in Storybrooke. Yet, here was one, coming towards them. The stranger stopped, and looked at the threesome. "Is there a place I can stay?" he asked in a calm tone.

"Um. . . . yeah. Granny's. Just up the road," was Emma's response. The man examined the trio, one by one. When his gaze came to rest on Lia, he seemed to pause for a second, something flashing in his eyes. But he disguised it well, as it was gone as quick as it had come. It looked like a mixture of pain and regret, like Lia reminded him of a decision he regretted. He turned back to Emma. "Thanks," he said as the motorcycle sped off toward the Bed and Breakfast. "Henry," said Emma in a cautious tone as she watched him leave, "I thought you said people couldn't come into Storybrooke?" Henry was looking in the same direction. "They can't."

* * *

Two days later, Lia sat at the table in the apartment, groggily eating her breakfast. She was still half asleep, and munching on her cereal didn't seem to do anything to wake her up. A hand appeared on her shoulder, startling her, and quickly moving along the 'waking up' process. The hand belonged to Emma. "Hey," she started, with a tone and a smile that suggested she was offering something. "Want to come to Granny's? Cocoa on me." Lia, glad to have an excuse to leave the house and a good glass of cocoa to wake up with, nodded and replied with a yes.

When the pair arrived, the usual morning crowd was there, but today, in one of the booths, sat the stranger from two days ago. "Go get us some cocoas, okay?" said Emma, "I have to. . .," she glanced at the stranger, "Take care of some Sheriff business." Lia knew better than to argue, so she ordered two cocoas with cinnamon from Ruby, and sat at the bar, drinking hers. She tried not to, but ended up watching the whole confrontation between the two. She wouldn't have guessed a typewriter of all things in the box. When Emma walked over, Lia tried to pretend she wasn't watching, but Emma caught her all the same.

"I saw you watching," her mother nagged. Lia smiled jokingly as she took another sip of cocoa. "So. . . why'd you need to do that?" Emma sighed as she sat down. "Well, apparently he had an interest in Henry yesterday, according to his adoptive mom, and she, 'Madame Mayor', asked me to look into it." "Learn anything?" "Not really. But I plan to. It's kinda my job."

* * *

The two finished their drinks as they chatted, and Emma would periodically glance at the man. Eventually the two split a doughnut, and left, leaving a slightly larger-than-usual tip, as Ruby was their waitress. To their disappointment, they were greeted with pelting rain, and they had walked to Granny's from the apartment earlier that morning.

"Again?" complained Emma. Both pulled up their hoods. The second they left the porch, they began their mad dash back to the dryness of the apartment building. Thunder rumbled as their boots splashed in the forming puddles.

Both were shivering and dripping wet by the time they reached the door. Emma quickly unlocked it, as both were desperate to dry, only to find the apartment empty. Today wasn't a school day - where was Mary Margaret? The question echoed through their minds. Lia was the one to ask it. Emma closed the door, and grabbed a towel from another room. "I. . . don't know. Hope she's okay though. . . "

* * *

Hope it wasn't too bad. . .

Review! Trust me - the next chapter will be better! Review and it will come faster!

Thanks for reading once again!


	7. Doing Business and A Walk in the Woods

Hi everyone! I'm back!

Enjoy this chapter! I can't wait to get farther in the season, and I'll try to update faster. But for now, enjoy my little cliffhanger at the end! Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT.

* * *

For the next hour or so, Lia and Emma sat in the apartment, waiting out the storm. Both wondered where Mary Margaret was. Periodically, one of them would pull the curtains aside, watching the pelting rain pound the pavement, lightning dancing across the sky and the thunder roaring after it. It brought Lia back to the night she had arrived in that small coastal town of Storybrooke - that night with the storm. . .

Not many words were exchanged between mother and daughter as they sat, as least not as much as the first day, but the two chatted nonetheless every once in a while. Eventually, sleep overcame the 10-year-old, and she dozed off, laying in her mother's lap. Emma sat there, watching her daughter sleep, something she never thought she'd get to do. She played with her daughter's curls for a little bit, then just watched the rain hit the window, thinking about what would come in the days ahead.

Her thoughts were interrupted after the rain had calmed, and the door opened. Standing there was a soaked Mary Margaret, who closed the door and quickly grabbed a towel. Emma moved her sleeping kid to the sleeping bag, then began helping her roommate dry off. "Where have you been?" demanded Emma, who tried to keep her voice low, not wanting to wake Lia.

"Out. . . " was her quiet reply. Emma shot her a look. "Okay! Yes, I've been doing stuff, okay?!" she replied, as she took off her jacket and sat down. Emma sat across from her. "Look - there was a dove, and I found it the woods trapped by some wire. So I brought it to Dr. Thatcher and said we needed to get it back to it's flock or it would be alone forever. The storm started after I went out and David was there and we hid in someone's cabin and she's not pregnant and we released the dove after the storm and it found it's flock." Mary Margaret sounded exasperated, and the last sentence was said quite fast, which explains why there was so many 'and's. "Happy?"

"I was just wondering where you were - I wasn't asking for a novel," replied Emma. Then she gave her friend a strange look. "Wait - who's not pregnant?" Mary Margaret shook her head. "Never mind. I don't know where that came from." Emma narrowed her eyes, catching the lie, but she just shrugged it off, letting it go. "Whatever. Just glad you're okay - it was a nasty storm." "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks."

"No - you're wet, shivering and cold. Go warm up, drink some cocoa. Change into dry clothes," Emma nagged, without really realizing it. Mary Margaret smiled weakly. "Thanks, Emma." "Well, someone has to take care of you."

* * *

A day later, Lia and Henry sat in their usual booth at Granny's, chatting about things like daily life and the curse and sipping their cinnamon-topped cocoa. Over the past several days since Lia's arrival, the two would meet most mornings and chat or just hang out, and sometimes, at other points during the day. Like now. Emma, to both of their surprises, was there as well. A man walked up to her and sat down, and Lia caught from the conversation that his name was 'Sydney'. Emma thought he was drunk, but she took the card anyway.

Lia didn't like the look of him - something threw her off, like how a man could suddenly change sides like that, even though his argument made sense. (Henry, during her 'Curse Breaking and Character Matching 101' course, as they joked, told her that he was the Magic Mirror/the Genie, and told her about what he did before Lia arrived (as he did with most of the residents) )

"What was that all about?" questioned Lia after 'Sydney' had left, startling her mother. Emma walked over and joined them at their booth, sitting next to Lia. "Don't worry. He's just. . . drunk." Lia nodded and took a sip, as if she understood, but truthfully, she didn't.

"So now what?" asked Henry, snapping Lia out of her thoughts. "I have to go back to the station soon. You guys should hang out some more, outside of Granny's. Have you shown Lia your castle?" said Emma. Lia cocked her head in confusion, looking at her brother. "I'll show her now. Will you drive us? Please?" pleaded Henry. Emma sighed. "Fine," she said with a laugh, "Let's go."

* * *

As they pulled up to the castle that Henry spoke so highly of during the ride there, they were greeted by the roar of machinery. Henry looked devastated. Bulldozers surrounded it, and they watched as the wrecking ball knocked over one of the towers. When they parked, he quickly shot out of the car and ran to the ruins of his precious castle. "No! The book! It's. . . gone. . . " he said, standing in front of where his beloved storybook should be. Lia tried comforting him as Emma walked up to another lady, with black hair and an evil grin, in Lia's opinion, her mother quite furious.

The two clearly disliked each other, and the woman only replied calmly to Emma's outburst, annoying her. Lia could already tell she would loathe this woman as well. After she walked away confidently, shooting Lia a look as she passed, Lia saw her mother pull out a card - probably the one 'Sydney' gave her. She made a call with a determined look on her face as she glanced in the twins' direction.

* * *

"I have to go," said Emma, grabbing her coat off the hook, and putting on her Sheriff's badge. "Why?" asked Lia, who sat in a chair, reading a book, like she did often on afternoons with nothing going on. "I need to. . . do some Sheriff business," she replied. Lia would one day discover that, on that day, 'doing Sheriff business' meant meeting with 'Sydney' and breaking into the Mayor's office.

"Okay then. See you later," replied Lia, not taking her eyes off the book pages. "Yep - bye!" said Emma, as she swiftly closed the door and left. Excited, the second the door closed, Lia put her book away, grabbed her bag and shoes, and left. Earlier that day, the idea of exploring the nearby woods when it wasn't storming (or raining, for that matter) crossed her mind. Now was her chance - Emma wouldn't mind, she could tell that her mother was okay with this kind of stuff, seeing how often she left Henry and/or her alone.

From the apartment, it wasn't too long of a walk to reach the towering trees. Lia loved it - much more than the concrete jungle of the city that she never got to fully explore. The small town was nice, but the woods captivated her. When she reached the forest, she walked relatively close to civilization, not wanting to get lost.

It was a beautiful day, and Lia enjoyed her walk immensely. A couple of times, she thought she saw a chipmunk. Looking at her watch, she decided it was time to head back to the apartment. Luckily, she could still see the tiniest bit of town. And that was the direction she walked.

She walked, at least, until something blocked the path ahead. There it was again - just as mysterious and majestic as it was before. This time, it sat on its hindquarters, like it knew she was coming and it was waiting for her. Lia's eyes widened, and she backed up cautiously. It studied her with eyes that seemed almost human. It was the wolf. The very same one that she had seen in the storm a week ago. It was the wolf.

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Hope you all liked that! More wolf coming next chapter! ;)

Please review! Thanks again!


	8. Almost As If It Was Trying To Talk

Hellos! Here's chapter 8 for you all! Not the most exciting chapter, but the wolf part is cool. ;) He's so fun to write.

Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT.

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All at once, feelings of terror, curiosity and fascination tumbled through Lia as she gazed at the wolf. How she could be meeting the same wolf again - and she had no doubt it was the same one - confused, baffled and interested her. The wolf, who was still sitting there, watching her, didn't look like it was going to attack, but Lia remained cautious anyways. Wolves were one of her favorite animals, but she never guessed she would ever see one; much less the same one in the same week.

For a minute or two, both wolf and human just stood there, watching each other. Then, all of a sudden, the wolf stood up, and beckoned Lia with its head, like it wanted her to follow. It began walking in the direction it had moved its head. Curious beyond belief, she let it get the best of her, and walked towards the wolf. The wolf, seeing that she was now following, padded off at a pace that made Lia run, but not fast enough to lose her. It would periodically stop, and make sure she was still there.

The wolf had an almost human quality to it, the way it looked at her, how it stopped and waited for her to catch up, how it had seemed almost friendly towards her. She had never heard of such things before. But she didn't argue against it - the whole thing frightened and fascinated her at the same time. Eventually, the wolf fully stopped, sitting on its hindquarters once more. Lia caught up to it, and paused, catching her breath.

The wolf looked at her, and then forward. Then it did it again. It was a fluid movement, like it was trying to point forward, trying to tell Lia, _go that way._

In front of them was the town. The wolf had led her home. This time, it stood up, walked behind her, and nudged her leg with its cold nose. _Go home. Stay home. Be safe,_ it seemed to say, or Lia was just imagining things. But she ignored the voice saying she was going mad, saying it was impossible for this to happen, and listened to the part of her that could hear what the wolf was trying to get across.

Understanding what the wolf wanted her to do, she nodded and started walking the direction the wolf pointed her. When she neared the edge of the trees, she turned her head around, and saw the wolf sitting there, watching her almost protectively. Its powerful gaze made her slightly uneasy, and she could feel them drilling holes through her back. Lia turned back towards the town, eager to return to the apartment - a quiet afternoon to herself and a glass of cocoa should help her clear her mind and sort out the early afternoon's events. She walked into town, the wolf not leaving until she was fully out of sight.

* * *

Lia heard the ear-blasting music before reaching the door. Confused, she opened it, to find her mother holding a steak knife, taking apart a toaster as rock music blasted from the speakers. For a few moments, Lia stood there, watching, wondering what to do. All she knew was that it was the end of their toaster; that was certain.

Emma didn't notice her until Mary Margaret walked in. Unlike Lia, when she heard the music, she sighed, walked in, and swiftly turned it off. That got Emma's attention. "What happened?" asked Mary Margaret, as she took off her coat. Lia closed the door and walked inside. Emma set the knife and the now-destroyed toaster down on the table.

"It's Regina. . . she won again. Sydney and I were going to get her finally, but she probably saw it coming. What we had turned out to be in her favor. And, well. . . she won."

Lia remained silent. From what she had heard (from mainly Henry and Emma), Regina (a.k.a. 'Madame Mayor') was someone you didn't mess with. Except for Emma. And Henry. And now, she wanted to join that team, because it was pretty obvious how much better off Storybrooke would be without her. She set down her backpack at her sleeping bag, and joined the two women at the island in the kitchen.

"Was it that bad? Bad enough to kill my second toaster?" asked Mary Margaret. "Second toaster?" questioned Lia. "I. . . um. . . took apart the first one when Regina fired me," explained Emma. Mary Margaret sighed. "How about we do something to get rid of all these bad vibes? Cocoa, anyone?" she offered.

It was met by a pair of smiles. An eager one from Lia, and a weak, 'thank you' type smile from Emma. "Thanks. That would probably help - at least a little bit," said Emma. Mary Margaret smiled, and walked over to a cabinet. She opened it. "Looks like we have just enough packets. And some spare cinnamon, if that's okay with you."

Lia and Emma smiled at each other, and told her cinnamon would be fine. After a few minutes, the three drank their cocoa happily. Mary Margaret was right. Cocoa did help. Especially with cinnamon (even though that probably doesn't apply with the rest of the world. But the cinnamon did help).

* * *

There we go! Nice little family feel at the end. :)

Please review, and thanks for reading!


	9. It's Not Just a Cup

Hellos! Here is a longer chapter than usual for you all - hope you enjoy it.

To all of you Rumbelle fans (including myself), I hope you like this chapter. To everyone else, I still hope you like this chapter. Just because I can, cookies for everyone! *hands out cookies* Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT. (yet. . . . )

* * *

Some days later, after the whole 'Regina beat us again' incident (they quickly replaced the toaster), Lia sat in the Sheriff's office, reading a book. (She did this often, as Lia did not have anything else to really do, and both Lia and Emma wanted to spend more time together. And, even though Emma has never said the words, Lia can tell she wants to keep her away from Regina, especially since she is holding Henry away from Emma. Luckily, the Evil Queen has yet to know of Lia's presence as his twin)

Emma suddenly walked into the office, clutching her phone. "Hey kid, what's wrong?" she asked. Lia had sent her a text telling her to come to the station as soon as possible.

"Someone called reporting that Mr. Gold's front door was open. I told them you'd be there soon."

Emma had a concerned look on her face, and Lia knew why - knowing Mr. Gold was enough to know to be concerned. But neither worried about Mr. Gold losing his trinkets (assuming it was a robbery); they worried about what his reaction would be, and what would happen to the criminal. "Well, you were right - let's get going." "You're taking me with you?" "Why not? There's nothing better to do."

The two quickly left the station, taking the Sheriff's cruiser as they drove towards the outskirts of town. Storybrooke was a small town, but the drive to Mr. Gold's house was still farther than most trips. They arrived at the mansion, Emma parking the cruiser just out front. Lia took amusement in the fact that the mansion was pink. Okay, maybe not _pink_. Pink-orange, maybe? But it was still pink, and still made her laugh.

Emma told Lia to stay in the car, and she happily obliged. Lia would be more than happy to sit out going into that man's house - especially after her visit to his shop, which still unnerved her. Her mother climbed the stairs to the house, and cautiously nudged the door open slightly. She walked in, but not before pulling out her gun.

To Lia's relief, no gunshots fired, and Emma left the mansion a few minutes after going in. As she left the house, the gun that was in her hand when she entered was replaced with a notepad, and a pencil to match in her other hand. Emma climbed into the car. "What happened?" asked the 10-year-old. "Mr. Gold. The guy got robbed. We're going to go check the thief out." "Now?" "Oh yes, now. I think everyone would prefer if we got to him before Gold does."

* * *

They arrived at the florist's house soon after. This time, Lia joined her mother doing her job as Sheriff. Emma boldly walked up to the door and knocked. "Mr. French?" she called, knocking again. No answer. And no answer came as they stood there on that porch for the next few minutes. Eventually, Emma became impatient and tried the knob. To the surprise of both mother and daughter, the door swung flawlessly open.

Confused, the two cautiously entered, Emma standing protectively over Lia. She had pulled out her gun once more. The sight of it made Lia uneasy. But the way her mother held it - like she knew how to use the gun, and wasn't afraid to use it in order to protect herself or Lia - only added to the unsettling feeling in her stomach.

In one of the rooms of the house, Lia spotted a table in the middle of the room, with a suspicious-looking tablecloth covering a suspicious-looking pile. Emma also saw it, because she walked over and threw it off. Removing the tablecloth revealed the stack of antique treasures hidden underneath it. It might as well have had 'Mr. Gold' written all over it.

Looking obviously pleased with the discovery, Emma put the gun away, instantly killing the bad feeling that had taken root in Lia's stomach. She asked for Lia's help, and the two quickly loaded everything into the back of the cruiser, making sure not to hurt anything. They left the house once everything had been removed, the only evidence of their visit being the disappearance of the trinkets and a note on the table, written by Emma, explaining what they did.

* * *

Late that afternoon, back in the Sheriff's office, Emma took off the tablecloth over her own desk, revealing what they had recovered to Mr. Gold. Lia saw him quickly scan the items, but the look of displeasure on his face never faltered. "You've recovered nothing. There's something missing." Lia thought she saw him continually re-scan the items, like he didn't want to believe that the 'something' was actually gone.

"I'll get it when I find him," retorted Emma.

"Not if I find him first."

The words had a chilling feeling to them. The pawnbroker then left, leaving both Emma and Lia sitting there, confused on what those six words could actually mean.

Lia was trying to piece together the puzzle that had been given to her. Mr. Gold, she now knew from her dreams as well as her talks with Henry (they had figured it out together), that Mr. Gold was Rumplestiltskin. (And, as her dreams were like watching the whole thing as a movie, his face as either the Dark One or the pawnbroker was unmistakable.)

As far as she knew (she knew nothing of Mr. Gold's life, but more than enough of Rumplestiltskin's), only one thing (one item, she should say) came to mind that could make the powerful man act so strongly in seeing it returned to him. She desperately wished she was wrong, but Lia knew the moment it had came to her that it was true. But that would mean (even though she had no doubt it was true) that the Dark One remembers.

Clips from her dreams come to the forefront of her mind, confirming her suspicions:

_. . . The woman held up the now-chipped cup, fumbling for some kind of excuse that might convince the man before her to lighten whatever punishment he held in mind. She hoped that it wouldn't hurt too much. He just stared at her for several moments, until finally responding, "It's just a cup," relieving her of her worries of punishment. . . ._

_. . . In his fit of rage, Rumplestiltskin picked up his old walking stick, and began attacking the glass window of the cabinet. He directed his anger, frustration, self-loathing and all of the other overwhelming emotions into every whack, trying to rid himself of them all. Eventually, he paused, resting for a few moments. Then he moved onto the table, on which sat a tea set. One by one, he picked up the cups, and threw them at a column of the room, instantly smashing when they collided. Until, however, he reached that one - the one with the chip. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't bring himself to do it. He couldn't smash it like the rest. . . . _

_. . . The doors slammed as the Evil Queen finally left. Opening the cabinet at the head of the room in a grand manner, he carefully removed it from the rest of the trinkets. The Dark One carried it over to a podium, and removed whatever meaningless decoration sat there, replacing with the chipped cup - his last reminder of his now-gone beloved. As he set it down, tears fell down his face, probably for the first time since becoming the Dark One. . . . _

"Emma," said Lia in an urgent tone. "We need to go back to Mr. French's house." Confused, Emma turned to Lia. "What?"

"Mr. Gold. . . I think I know what he's looking for. We need to find it."

Standing up, Lia thought to herself, _and to him, it's not just a cup._

* * *

Yays! Hope you liked that!

Please review and thanks for reading!


	10. Gone

Hello everyone! I'm sorry about the wait (I won't be able to update most weekends during the summer) but I hope you like the chapter! This time, hot cocoa for everyone (with cinnamon!) *hands out mugs of amazing cocoa (with cinnamon) (just because)* ;)

On with the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT.

* * *

As the car rumbled down the road, the two riding inside were deep in thought. Lia, who sat in the back, was in the process of convincing herself that one: she was not crazy, two: the curse was real, and three: her dreams were real too. (She was surprised that she discovered those three things only from the discovery that the Dark One remembered) She knew as well that her mother was confused as to why they were driving back to the florist's house, but Lia just hoped the cup was there.

So now the question of who else remembered came to mind. Lia tried to shove that thought back under, and focus on it later. Right now, she had to focus on the only one she knew for a fact that remembered. She anxiously fiddled with her hair as she watched the landscape go by.

Despite how hard she tried to shove her thoughts down, they kept coming up to the forefront of her mind. She wasn't crazy - that was a good thing. But the fact that the curse is real raises the stakes up significantly higher, making it vital that Emma breaks it. And her visions. . . why she would get these. . . memories, even as the daughter of the savior, still confused her.

With one final mental shove, Lia thought about the houses passing by, when she realized they had just arrived. There went any hope of not thinking about it.

Once they parked, Lia quickly opened the door and almost ran to the house. "Hey, Lia - wait up!" called Emma, but she was already inside the house. The first place she looked was the table, but nothing had changed - the note was in the same place they had left it. She looked under the table, around the table - but no luck.

Emma finally caught up to her daughter. "Hey - you alright? What are we looking for?"

Lia took a breath, mentally telling herself to calm down. "There is a cup - it's a tea cup. It's very important to Rum-Mr. Gold, and it has a chip."

"Why would Mr. Gold want a chipped cup? And how do you know this?"

"Let's just say, logic elimination happens a lot in conversations between Henry and I."

And with that, Lia turned back to her search, leaving Emma to shrug. After confirming for the seventh time that the cup was not at the table, she started walking laps around the first floor of the strange house. She felt the need to pace, to think, while still looking for signs of the cup. Eventually, she came to the conclusion that it was not there, (though quite honestly, she knew it before, but refused to recognize it) and she turned to her mother.

"Emma?"

"Yeah?" (she had been sitting there, watching her daughter pace this whole time)

"It's gone. It's not here. I don't think we'll find anything else here." (Lia mentally rolled her eyes at herself - she sounded so stupid. But Emma had the kindness not to visibly show that)

"On the way back to the station. . . can we stop and make sure Mr. Gold is in his shop? Just to make sure everything's okay?" added Lia. She had a bad feeling, and knowing that he wasn't beating Mr. French to a pulp would help to rid her of it.

"Um. . . sure. We can do that. Let's head back to the car - I think we've spent more than enough time in Mr. French's house," said Emma. Nodding, Lia followed her mother out of the florist's house, down the path and into the car. Within the next minute they were driving back toward the heart of town.

Obliging Lia's request, on the way back to the station, they stopped in front of the pawnshop, and spotted Mr. Gold polishing something behind his desk. Now knowing that everything was fine, they continued on their way.

* * *

The remainder of the afternoon was spent mindlessly doing paperwork and other not-very-exciting Sheriff activities. No calls came in - it was a peaceful afternoon. Lia managed to conquer the rest of the book she had started the day before, and enjoyed it immensely. The two had eaten a quick meal from Granny's for dinner. Emma wanted to finish paperwork, so Lia stuck around.

It was after the sun had gone down when the call came. Emma, who was at the desk at the time, quickly answered it. Lia was nearby, but could only make out a few snippets of what the person on the other line said.

_"Mr. Gold. . . driving Moe's. . . toward the cabin. . . " _

After a minute or two, Emma set the phone back down, and grabbed her jacket. "Hey, Lia? I'm going to need you to go home. Something's come up. I'll meet you there later, okay?"

Lia gave a smile and a nod of approval, and grabbed her own things. Emma took the cruiser, and dropped Lia off at the apartment. Then she drove as fast as she could toward the cabin the caller had spoken of. As she arrived, the florist's van was parked in front of the woodland cabin, like she had expected. But that wasn't the giveaway. It was the angry yelling and the screams of pain that followed. It chilled Emma to the bone, but didn't let it stop her.

She rushed into the cabin. She could easily hear Gold's voice now. "It's your fault! It's your fault!" Now inside the cabin, Emma grasped the cane, stopping the man holding it from injuring the florist anymore. "Stop!" She said, glancing at Moe, her face enough to express her horror, then turned back to Gold. She wondered if the cup Lia mentioned was behind his reaction. She did know that it was connected to a 'her', based on Gold's yelling. Now the question was: what to do about it?

* * *

The emergency vehicles soon arrived, and they immediately set about helping Mr. French. To Emma's questions and relief, they said that he would be okay, and nothing vital was injured.

The Sheriff approached the pawnbroker, who was standing outside the cabin, doing nothing about the chaos around him. "So I hear you managed not break anything he needs. You're lucky, Mr. Gold," she started. He looked up at her when she spoke.

"You got a funny definition of lucky."

Emma paused, shifted her weight, and continued to stare him down. "You have a funny definition of justice. What did he really do?" It wasn't hard to figure out that it was more than the stolen items - from the reaction and from what he yelled as he beat Mr. French.

"He stole," replied Mr. Gold, like the answer was obvious.

Emma glared at him, seeing the lie as clear as day. "That reaction was about more than taking a few trinkets. You said something about how he hurt 'her', what happened to 'her'? Who was that? What did he do? If someone needs help, maybe I can help," said Emma. She was honestly concerned. If the man in front of her hurt Mr. French as bad as he did (or worse if Emma hadn't arrived) over the florist having done something to 'her', Emma wondered if she was even still alive.

"No. I'm sorry Sheriff, I think you heard that wrong."

"You really don't want to cooperate." Emma was starting to get annoyed.

"Look - we're done here," he said, trying to walk away. But before he could get anywhere, Emma grabbed his arm, and pulled out her handcuffs. "Actually, no, we're not. You're under arrest." She cuffed the man, and started moving him toward the cruiser. The day had been an interesting one - she hoped the repercussions of it wouldn't be as bad as today had been peculiar.

* * *

There we have it! I love that episode. :)

Please review, thanks for reading, and an original Regina vs. Gold scene next chapter!


	11. That Twisted Little Imp

Yay! Back again! This chapter was so fun to write - a couple of good hints in there, and I'm really glad you guys like it so far! Enjoy the chapter, and thanks for sticking with me!

Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT.

* * *

The next day, after all of the initial chaos had settled, Emma and Lia sat in the Sheriff's office, the pawnbroker across the room, with the bars of the cell separating them. Emma seemed to be in a happy mood - maybe it was because she had beaten Mr. Gold. Lia didn't know. She was too wrapped up in her book. She had found the second one in the series and loved it.

Lia lifted her head when she heard her mother speak. She was eating a sandwich. "Pastrami. You want half?" Emma was talking to Mr. Gold. She had a smile on her face, which made Lia smile as well as she continued reading. "You know, I still owe you that favor. Nice fatty pastrami. Delicious way to clear the books," Emma continued.

Mr. Gold, on the other hand, did not seem to be amused in the slightest. "Well, I don't need a reminder that you owe me a favor. And when the day comes that I make my request, it'll be for more than half a sandwich." His voice had no compassion. Lia tried to suppress the shivers traveling down her spine, which only intensified once she remembered that he knew exactly who he was, and what he could do.

At that moment, however, the Mayor walked into the office, and to Lia's delight, with Henry. She seemed to be focused on something. And based on her gaze, it involved Mr. Gold, as it never moved from his cell. "Sheriff Swan, I'm letting you have thirty minutes with Henry. Take him out, buy him ice cream."

Emma seemed astounded by the request - for being allowed with Henry, and for leaving Mr. Gold and Regina in the same room together. "You want me to leave you alone with a prisoner?" she asked incredulously. Regina didn't react. "Twenty-nine and a half minutes," she replied.

Henry smiled at Emma and Lia. "Hey Emma. Hey Lia," he said. "Hi Henry," said both Emma and Lia at the same time. Now Regina turned. "Who's this?" she asked Henry, with a confused expression on her face. Henry's, however, turned from a joyous smile to a hard gaze in an instant. "A friend," he said after a pause.

Emma eyed Regina suspiciously, but she wanted to make the most of the time she could with Henry. "Just this once," she said, before smiling herself as she grabbed her coat. Lia set her book down, and grabbed her own jacket. "Come on, let's go," said Emma eagerly. Lia and Henry followed, just as excited as their mother.

As Lia left, (being the last one) she heard Gold speak before leaving the station with her family.

"Well. . . you really wanted that little chat, didn't you?" The words held no compassion, and were dripping with venom and hate. She was glad she wasn't at the receiving end of them. After hearing Henry calling her, she left the Mayor and pawnbroker to talk, oblivious to what information would be revealed while they were gone.

* * *

That afternoon, Regina had yet to take Henry from Emma and Lia, and the three walked down Main Street, chatting like family. Regina sat in her car, still feeling quite victorious from her encounter with Mr. Gold. No - he was Rumplestiltskin now. There was a difference. And knowing him, he was probably out of the cell by now.

She watched the three walk, wondering what Emma's expression would be when she came to collect her son. She looked at the girl again. It was creepy how she looked so much like the Sheriff. And the way she was with them, how she and Henry interacted, it was like. . . like. . .

For a second, Regina froze. No, she couldn't be. . . But the clues added up. No one else in this town looked like Emma, except the girl. How she seemed to fit in perfectly with Emma and Henry. It scared Regina, to be quite honest. It was another threat, another obstacle, between her and Henry.

It was after watching the three for a while that Regina noticed something. A trace, a wisp of something on the girl - something she hadn't encountered in a long time. Magic. (Well, except for the death of Graham, but she preferred not to think about that) It was when she recognized the magic that she really froze.

Now at the conclusion that the girl is Emma's daughter, and based on her assumed age, Henry's twin. Even thinking those two words together upset her. And that trace of magic on her - wait. Scratch that - the _two_ traces of magic on her shook her. One of them she could never mistake, as it was the magic of her former mentor, but the other was unfamiliar, yet there was more of it. Interesting. Not wasting another second, she swiftly left the car and speed-walked down to the pawnshop.

Just as she suspected, he was standing behind his counter, examining some object from the shop's selection. She slammed the door behind her, making the bell rattle. "Anything I can do for you, Your Majesty?" said Mr. Gold, his attention not leaving the object in his hands.

"Why is she here?" demanded the Queen, not wasting any time and charging up to the counter. "What is she doing here?"

"Who do you speak of, Regina? There are a lot of women in this town."

If looks could kill, Gold would be dead many times over. "You know exactly who I'm talking about. Why is she here? And what do you have to do with her?"

The man finally set the object down. "And why do you have such an interest in our young friend, Your Majesty?"

"Because of the magic on her. Yours," she said, her gaze not faltering.

Mr. Gold smiled. "You and I both know that's not all. You're worried about the other magic on her. _His_ magic."

Regina inhaled sharply. "You don't mean-"

He cut her off. "Oh, yes I do. He is here, just like the rest of us. Except he isn't under the curse in the same way as the rest of Storybrooke. Congratulations, Regina. You've found yourself another enemy, because I can promise you that he's not happy about what you did to our home."

Thoughts raced through the Queen's head. If _he_ really was here. . . then she would have to be extra careful from now on. But she didn't let any of her concerns cross her face. "And what did you do to her? Your magic is there as well."

Mr. Gold seemed to be enjoying this. She hated it when he did that. "Ah, that. Well, let's just say, things in Storybrooke were. . . slowing down. So I did a little something to move things along."

_That twisted little imp,_ she thought. So he had done something magic to the girl. The main question that ran through Regina's head was where he got the magic from. But she didn't bother asking it, as there would be no way he'd answer it honestly. She realized she wouldn't learn anything else here, but still continued to stare him down.

"Why do you want the curse broken?" she attempted, knowing it was a dangerous question. "Why create the curse in the first place?"

"I think we're done here. I'd appreciate it if you'd leave my shop now, Madame Mayor," he said, looking up at her. Regina opened her mouth to respond, but before any words could come out, he used the magic word. She now wished she hadn't agreed to that part of the deal back in the Enchanted Forest. "Please."

Fed up (and having no choice), the Mayor turned and left, slamming the door again behind her as she left the pawnshop. Mr. Gold sighed, glad she was gone. He didn't want to touch on the subject of the curse's creation just yet. He went back to inspecting his items, wondering what kind of magic _he_ had put on Lia. He would have to figure that out, but that wasn't the problem. The problem would be keeping Regina out of it. She couldn't be involved in this. Not just yet.

* * *

I had so much fun writing the scene between Gold and Regina – their one-on-one scenes in the show are always incredible.

Thanks for reading, and please review! :)


	12. A New Dream

I'm sorry for the wait! I'm visiting family, so my typing time is cut short. (And travel took time away as well) I'll try to keep updating, but no promises. I'll be back at full speed by Monday. Thanks for being patient with me!

I want to thank everyone who has reviewed/followed/favorited or even read this story. It means the world to me, so keep on! Thanks a TON! *hands out hot cocoa with cinnamon* *and apple turnovers for those brave enough to try them* ;D

Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT.

* * *

Emma, Henry, and Lia had enjoyed the fact that Regina was quite late in picking Henry up. They already had an excuse planned if the situation called for it, and so they enjoyed the ice cream. Surprisingly, when Regina finally came to collect Henry, she only walked up, said it was time to go, and turned away, the only difference being that Henry was following her. It was strange to have Regina act this way, especially with the extra time he had spent with Emma and Lia, but they thought none of it.

The rest of the day was just another one - nothing out of the ordinary. (Well, except for the cup of hot cocoa from Granny's (with cinnamon, of course), but that was quickly becoming the norm) Dinner was eaten at the table in the apartment, and Lia went to bed after conquering several chapters from her book. It was after the girl fell asleep that things became interesting.

* * *

She was in some kind of forest, the trees towering high above her. It was unlike the woods surrounding Storybrooke, yet it felt familiar in some strange way. Lia started walking, not really sure she was going, but she felt like she was going the right way.

Lia could've been walking for two minutes or two hours - she didn't know. But eventually, she heard something. It sounded like a whisper, or someone calling from far away. As she continued on, the voice got louder, like she was getting closer to the source. By now she could recognize it. It was the voice from her dreams prior to coming to Storybrooke. It was the voice who had told her to go to the cursed town.

But this time, as she kept walking, it sounded. . . different. Right now it was only telling her to come, calling her name. But something was different. Did it sound . . . freer? Like it was somewhat forced before, and now spoke of its own accord?

After a bit, Lia came to a clearing. The trees seemed to form a perfect barrier around it. At one end was a gap, in which Lia entered. At the other end was a silvery figure, which reminded Lia of something, but she couldn't place her finger on it. It looked like some sort of spirit or something. A dog, maybe?

The voice was a clear as day now, and Lia was comforted by it, for some reason. It was a friend. The spirit-thing didn't move, but it was obvious that the voice came from it. _"Lia,"_ it said, but it sounded inside of Lia's head.

Lia nodded. _"I'm glad you've come. It's taken me awhile to gather enough energy to do so." _The last part confused Lia, but she tried to hide it. The spirit, however, seemed to notice her confusion. _"I came here with the Curse as with the rest of the Enchanted Forest, but I was not put under it in the same way. Once I arrived, I began collecting energy, in order to speak with you. The daughter of the Savior."_

Lia walked in a bit closer, intrigued. She felt like she had met the spirit before. "Who. . . who are you?" she asked, surprised to find that she could speak clearly, like when she was awake. The spirit seemed to grin. _"You know who I am, Lia. I suppose I don't have enough strength to show exactly who I am, but I'm surprised you don't recognize me."_

Lia pondered that for a second. Did that mean she had met the spirit before? It would explain the sense of familiarity, but it still confused her. Why did it sound like it was speaking in riddles?

"Why are you here?" she attempted. If she was here for a reason (she had never been in any place like this in her dreams before, and never been able to operate like she was awake. Even during her visions, she was watching them happen.) she might as well know why, and learn from it.

The spirit almost seemed to laugh. _"But I'm not. This is only a part of me. I'm in Storybrooke, like everyone cursed. Which brings me to a point I need to make," _it said. Its tone became more serious, and its gaze seemed to strengthen. _"Your dreams, Lia. The visions. The memories. Every single thing you saw was true. Everything you saw happened. Never doubt that. You must help get the Savior to believe, so she can break the Curse. Do you understand?"_

Its words and tone somewhat frightened her. But it did explain that she was meant to get her visions. Lia was still as confused as ever, but now she felt like she had a sense of duty, of responsibility. She hesitantly nodded, obviously pleasing the spirit. _"Good,"_ it said with a sigh of relief. "Why - Why am I here?" Lia asked nervously. She hoped he didn't respond with another riddle.

"_You are in Storybrooke because your mother is the Savior, and you must help make her believe, so she can break the Curse. You are here, in this dream, because I needed to make sure you knew your visions are true, so that you believe. Because you can't help another believe if you don't yourself."_

The next few moments were in silence, Lia trying to make sense out of this peculiar conversation, and the spirit staring at her, watching her. Then, all of a sudden, Lia's sight blurred for a second, then came back into focus. The spirit seemed to take notice of it.

"_You are waking up. I wish I could speak more with you, Lia, but have faith - all will be answered in due time. Be safe. If you need assistance, you know where to find me. You already know. Farewell, Lia. Stay strong."_

Lia's vision blurred again, for longer this time. She could feel herself leaving. Right before she left the dream-forest, she caught her most clear glimpse of the spirit. She could only see the clear outline of four legs and a tail, and then her vision went black.

* * *

An instant later, she sat bolt upright in her sleeping bag. After breathing heavily for a few moments, she could think again. What a strange dream. . . And yet, it didn't feel like a dream. It felt like it actually happened. Lia wondered what Henry would think of it. Maybe there was some kind of dog-spirit in his book. There wasn't one in her visions.

Seeing as she had slept in slightly (it was almost 7:45), Lia set about doing her morning routine. Getting dressed, brushing her teeth, attempting to rid her curls of the tangles (and failing), all while pondering the dream. Grabbing her jacket, Lia left the apartment, and began walking towards Granny's. Hopefully her brother would be there.

The little bell hanging over the door jingled as it always did when the door to Granny's diner opened. Lia walked in, no longer shy or nervous of the other customers. To Lia's delight, Henry sat in his usual booth, sipping on cocoa. (Then again, that was all he and Lia seemed to get from the diner)

He looked pleasantly surprised when she sat down with him. "Hey Lia," he said, smiling. "Hey Henry," was the reply. Ruby came over, and Lia asked for a cocoa with cinnamon. She nodded, and left to get it. Lia leaned forward, eager to tell her brother about the conversation in the dream-forest.

"So, last night, I had a dream," she started. Henry already looked intrigued. "There was a forest, and in it, there was a-" Lia was cut off by the arrival of the Mayor. She briskly walked into the diner, and stopped at their booth. Henry shrunk back in his seat slightly. Lia leaned back on the bench.

"Henry, you're going to be late for school. Come on," said Regina, in a tone that said 'no' wasn't an option. Henry gave Lia a look of determination (probably meaning, 'we'll talk later, don't worry' or something along those lines) before standing up obediently and walking slowly towards the exit. Regina turned to Lia, who remained in the booth. "Stay away from my son," the Mayor muttered, just loud enough so Lia could hear, and soft enough for the rest of the diner not to. With that, she turned and left, leaving Lia to herself.

Lia stared angrily at Regina's back as she left. Ruby walked over and gave Lia her cup. "She's like that to all of us," said Ruby somewhat quietly, the words of reassurance helping Lia. "Thanks Ruby," she replied, as she took a sip. Ruby returned a smile and went back to the kitchen. Lia took another sip, enjoying the cinnamon. She and Henry would talk later, whether Regina had a say in it or not.

* * *

I hope that was worth the wait! Thanks for reading!

Please review, and Leroy makes a power outage next chapter!


	13. How To Sell Candles

Monday! Just like I promised!

Like always, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. On Thursday (when I published chapter 12) I got a record number of views! Thank you all SO MUCH!

*COOKIES AND HOT COCOA FOR YOU ALL!*

So sit back, relax, have some cookies and hot cocoa, and enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT.

* * *

The whole sneaking-behind-Regina's-back-and-meeting-to-talk- later plan didn't exactly work. Over the next few days, Henry and Lia came up with numerous ideas, all which ended in failure (thank you, Madame Mayor). Long story short, Lia was now on Regina's official 'keep away from Henry' list. (which only consisted of Emma and Lia)

The twins resorted to using the walkie-talkies. Once the two were in position (aka, out of Regina's sight), Lia shot into explaining her dream. She didn't leave out a single detail. Henry drank it all in, listening intently the whole time. When Lia was done, he paused for a few seconds. "I don't know about any dream forests," was the eventual reply, "But how you described the spirit. . . reminds me of something."

Lia grew excited at that last comment. He knew what the spirit thing was? Was it in the book? There wasn't anything like it in her visions. The spirit had said that it sent her the visions, though. Hmm. . . .

"Let me check the book. I want to make sure. Regina's going out later, leaving me at home. Meet me at Granny's then?" Lia grinned. "Done."

The afternoon couldn't come fast enough for either twin. When it did, though, Regina ruined their plans. (again) Whatever her reason for leaving Henry alone in the house was, it was cancelled. Henry glumly told her the news through the walkie-talkie. "I want to show you what the book says, instead of using the walkie-talkies. It's. . . important. That you see what the book actually says." Lia sighed, disappointed. "Okay."

"I'm going to find out when she'll be gone next. I'll tell you as soon as I know, and then we'll meet up. Okay?" asked Henry hopefully. Lia nodded, even though Henry wouldn't be able to tell. "Okay," she said firmly. And the two set down their walkie-talkies, continuing on with their day.

Now Lia was left with nothing to do the rest of the day. Her mother was out doing Sheriff business today, thanks to a call that came last night, reporting that Kathryn, David's wife, had gone missing. Lia had met David a couple times, thanks to Mary Margaret. She hoped he was okay. Emma was trying to find her. How, Lia didn't know. She just hoped that Emma succeeded.

Wearing her jacket, Lia left the apartment, deciding to go for a walk. This time, instead of walking down Main Street or through the woods, she headed toward a row of houses, and decided to walk down a couple streets.

It was after she turned the first corner that she heard the door slam. Looking toward the sound, Lia spotted Mary Margaret with another man (Leroy, she thought it was. She's seen him in the diner a couple times). They were holding something. . . were those candles?

Lia briskly walked up to join them. "Hi Mary Margaret," she said as she came closer. Now standing with them, Lia could see that they were candles. "Oh, hi Lia," was her quiet response. "Selling candles?" Lia asked. "Trying to, sister," said Leroy, who didn't look very pleased.

Mary Margaret looked upset too. "Need any help?" attempted Lia, "I have nothing else to do today." Mary Margaret gave her a warm smile, one that seemed to say 'thank you'. "I'd be okay with that. Leroy?"

After a grunt, the janitor replied, "Okay with me. We need all the help we can get." The last part sounded reluctant, like he didn't want to admit it.

"Well then, you can take some of these," said Mary Margaret, handing a couple candles to Lia, who eagerly took them. "We've tried going door to door, but. . . "

"It's not working, is it?" asked Lia. The sad faces of the two told her the answer. Leroy's, however, shifted from sad to determined quickly. "Doesn't matter. We're going to sell every last candle, sister. Count on it."

* * *

Later, in the Volunteer Center, Mary Margaret and Lia stood on one side of the room, anxiously watching Leroy. They both didn't want to have to tell Astrid, but it had to be done. They had failed. Leroy and the nun talked for a minute or two, and then, to both Lia and Mary Margaret's surprise, Astrid hugged the janitor. Lia thought she heard him say that he sold all of the candles.

Lia hung back as Mary Margaret went to confront him. "How could you tell Astrid that we sold all those candles?" she said angrily. "That is five thousand dollars, Leroy. Five thousand dollars that we don't have." She sounded confused, horrified, concerned, disappointed, and probably loads of other emotions as she spoke.

"Don't worry about it, alright? I got a plan," was his confident reply. Lia could just barely hear them from where she stood, and inched closer to hear them better. She was happy she wasn't in this conversation. It didn't sound like it was going to end on a happy note.

"What plan? A plan like going door to door and having everyone in town laugh in our faces?" said Mary Margaret, as she glared at Leroy. "Just give me till the end of the day. I'll figure something out," he replied, meeting the school teacher's gaze and sounding fiercely determined. "And why is this so important to you?" demanded Mary Margaret. Leroy paused, his face taking on a new look. Of sadness? Longing? Wishing? Lia wished she was better at reading faces. It seemed to be a good skill to have in this strange town. "The nuns . . . they're going to have to leave."

Mary Margaret looked shocked. "Oh my God. You like her!" she said incredulously, "She is a _nun_, Leroy. Could you possibly pick someone less available?"

Leroy's gaze strengthened considerably, like fire was burning in his eyes . "Says the girl who went after a married guy?" he retorted, "At the end of the day, you're no better than I am. You got your reasons for being here, I got mine. And when I say I'm going to get that five thousand dollars, I'm going to get that five thousand dollars."

Lia smiled to herself, admiring his powerful determination.

* * *

Leroy had soon left, going to Mr. Gold. He seemed so eager, so ready to do this for the convent. For Astrid. So it hurt Lia when Mary Margaret told her that Leroy had failed to get the five thousand dollars from Mr. Gold, and that Astrid had found out about the unsold candles. Lia went back to the apartment, sighing, thinking that maybe she'd read a few chapters before going to the festival later.

After a couple chapters, she paused, thinking about the day. Lia only hoped Leroy would be okay. He was so determined to get that money. . .

Her thoughts were interrupted by the door opening. It was Mary Margaret and Leroy. "Grab your coat, sister," said the janitor, who looked pretty excited, "We've got some candles to sell." Mary Margaret looked eager as well. Wearing a smile that stretched from ear to ear, Lia quickly got ready.

On the walk to the Miner's Festival, Leroy explained that he had a plan, and that they would sell every single candle. Lia pondered what his plan could be. Even when the three stood nervously on a rooftop, she still didn't know what he was thinking.

Leroy, resting his pickaxe on his shoulder, smiled. "Perfect." Mary Margaret looked horrified, for some reason. "Leroy! What are you doing? Please, don't do it!"

Both Leroy and Lia looked at her strangely. It was Leroy who replied. "I'm not going to jump." She looked confused now. "You're not?" The janitor looked incredulously at her. "No, are you crazy? I could hit someone. You know how much damage I could do? I'm solidly built." Lia hid a giggle at that. The adults didn't seem to notice.

"Leroy, what are we doing up here?"

He looked at her with a confident expression. "I'm going to get my moment."

Mary Margaret did not seem to be expecting that. "Wait! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! What?" She looked back and forth between Lia and Leroy. Lia only stood there, waiting to see Leroy's brilliant plan.

"You might want to duck." And with that, he swung the pickaxe at a nearby transformer (that Lia hadn't noticed), making it explode with hundreds of sparks, and Lia watched as the lights of the town abruptly shut off.

"What are you doing?" Mary Margaret demanded, as she stood there on the rooftop, next to Lia.

"I'm selling candles, sister," was his response. Lia smiled, in awe of what just happened, and happy for Leroy in finally succeeding.

* * *

They already had half of the candles sold. The crowd had quickly come to the threesome once the power went out, and the school teacher, the janitor, and Lia eagerly sold the candles, their joy never faltering. At Mary Margaret's request, Lia picked up some of the now-empty boxes, wanting to clear away more room.

At the recycling bin, Lia crushed each box and thrust it inside. On her final box, she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. A silver blur, rushing back into the shadows. Turning the other way, she spotted none other than Mr. Gold, standing at the edge of the crowd. He was staring intently at the spot where Lia saw the silver blur.

In the matter of a couple seconds, what seemed to be many forms of confusion (and probably some other emotions, but again, Lia wasn't the best at reading faces) crossed his face, only to be replaced by a confident smile, like he knew what had caused the onslaught of emotions, and welcomed it now. It unnerved Lia. Throwing the last box in the bin, she returned to the booth where Mary Margaret and Leroy continued selling, choosing to ignore the strangeness of the past few seconds.

* * *

There you have it!

Hope you liked that, and please review! More reviews mean I type faster! Thanks again!


	14. A Spirit, A Guardian, A Protector

Hellos!

I've been waiting for this chapter - it's a big one (in multiple ways ;D)! Hope you all like it!

To annah23's review: Thank you! :) I'm planning on following the basic storyline of the show, plus adding in my own twists and such (okay, maybe I have a bit more planned than only a few twists or so. ;) ). So yes, Neal will appear eventually. Thanks for asking!

Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT (if I did, breaks would be much, MUCH shorter).

* * *

The excitement of the Miner's Day Festival had faded, and life returned to normal. Leroy seemed to be happier, though. As did Mary Margaret. Emma, however, was still on the lookout for Kathryn, and that dampened the happy mood in the apartment.

Lia and Henry had yet to meet and look over the book. It was driving her nuts. Knowing that he might know something, wondering why the spirit didn't tell of itself in the visions, thinking up possible theories and then shoving them down, labeling them as impossible. . . It was enough to drive one mad.

Lia hoped she didn't go mad. (or wasn't already)

And so, she tried to distract herself by doing other things. Luckily, she had managed to find quite the useful distraction in the form of Ruby. She had quit the diner, and now sat in the Sheriff's office with Lia and Henry, who currently searched for available jobs.

Sadly though, he had brought the book. They were waiting to be alone to look through it. The very sight of it seemed to taunt her. No - don't think about it. Ruby. Jobs. Diner. Anything else.

Ruby had so far rejected most of the ideas the twins had come up with. Then the phone rang. And again. "Why do the phones keep doing that?" asked Ruby, glancing at it. Henry shrugged. "Oh, the non-emergency calls go to a machine when Emma's busy." Lia looked back at her newspaper (looking for available jobs), trying to distract herself.

Before it could ring a third time, Ruby answered the phone. "Sheriff's station. How can I help you? Mmhmm. I'll get her to return. Thank you, too," she said. Lia noticed how well she handled it. Maybe there was hope for a job. She answered the next call too.

"Sheriff's station. Hey, Miss Ginger. Uh, no, that's not a prowler. That's Archie's dog – Pongo. Throw him a vanilla wafer. He'll quiet down. Did you still want to talk to Emma? Great. Glad I could help."

Lia leaned over to Henry. "Pongo likes vanilla wafers?" she whispered. He smiled. "He adores them. Archie found that out when Pongo ate almost half a box that he had left out." Lia giggled at that thought.

"How's it going, you three?" asked Emma, who seemed to have just entered the station. Ruby sighed, "Great. Except I can't do anything." She sounded really disappointed in herself.

Emma walked over. "I'm sure that's not true. I just saw you on the phone. That was good," she said, trying to make Ruby feel better.

Ruby didn't look convinced. "That? That's nothing," she said sullenly.

But Emma wasn't giving up. "No. No, it isn't. I actually have some money in the budget if you want to help out around here."

This time, Ruby shot up, smiling a mile wide. "Yes! Thank you! Yes. Um, I could answer phones and help out. Um, is there anything else that you need done? Organize files, cleaning up? Please – I want to be useful," she said.

Lia and Henry were sitting there, watching the two talk. Lia flashed Henry a smile, one that said 'nice work'. He returned it.

Emma sighed in exhaustion. "I'm swamped with the Kathryn Nolan thing. If you maybe want to grab us lunch, I would never say no to a grilled cheese," she said with a smile.

"Neither would I," said Lia.

Ruby smiled and nodded. "Done." She turned to Henry. "You want anything?"

After a second or two of thinking, he responded with a grin, "Um, two chocolate chip cookies, an apple pie, and a hot dog."

"He ate at school," said Emma.

Ruby turned to leave, and almost bumped into Mary Margaret. She had a worried expression on her face. "Hey! Lunch, Mary Margaret? I'm getting for everyone."

"Uh, no. I'm not hungry," was her quiet reply. Ruby shrugged and left. "What's wrong?" asked Lia.

"David's in the woods. There's something wrong with him. He looked right through me. It's like… It's like he was a different person."

Emma and Lia shared a quick, worried glance, then looked back at Mary Margaret. What did she mean?

* * *

Emma and Ruby (when she got back) soon left to go search for David, leaving Lia and Henry at the station. Lia was almost bursting with excitement. It was all she could do not to.

"You ready?" asked Henry. Lia only nodded. He pulled out the book and laid it on the desk with a thud. He opened the book up to a random page, and flipped it forward a few chapters until he reached a page that had a picture of Rumpelstiltskin in a forest, holding some kind of pendant.

"So, when you mentioned a spirit, I remembered this story. It's the only time the book mentions the spirit. According to the book, he goes by many names: the Spirit, the Protector, the Guardian of the Land, the Balance, etc. His job is pretty much to balance out the dark magic and light magic, making sure one side didn't overpower the other, and he would protect the land and nature."

He paused to let it sink in. Lia was trying to process it all. So. . . the spirit was some kind of protection spirit? Like a peacekeeper, sort of?

"The book says that he was rarely seen, except by the Dark One and the fairies - the main users of dark and light magic."

Lia nodded, wanting him to continue.

"It also says that he used to be human, and when he gained the power of the Spirit, he usually took on the form of some creature. So he's pretty much the neutral version of the Dark One."

"So, in this story, Rumpelstiltskin makes a deal with the Spirit, promising to not to overuse his dark magic (as the Spirit had confronted him over using overly-powerful dark spells multiple times) for a few strands of his hair. The Spirit reluctantly agrees, and Rumpelstiltskin made a pendant out of it. It doesn't say what it can do, though. That's about all it says."

Lia thought this over. So it didn't bring her any closer to figuring out what the Spirit meant with all of his riddles. But she was certain that the spirit in her dreams was the Spirit that Henry was talking about. And she now knew it was a 'he'.

After thinking some more, she decided to leave the topic alone, and maybe she would find him (as he told her in the dream) and she would figure it out then. Thinking about it more would make her go nuts.

Henry checked his watch. "I have to go - Regina's going to be mad if I'm not home soon." Lia nodded, "Okay. See you later?" He smiled, "Sure." He picked up the book and locked it in the drawer. "Bye Lia," he said as he turned to go, grabbing his backpack. "Bye Henry," she replied as he disappeared.

Well, that did help somewhat. Lia would figure this out. She would get to the bottom of this. She knew it.

* * *

An hour or so later, Lia sat in the back of the yellow bug, with Ruby up front, driving. After she had come back to the station, Emma had called, asking Ruby to go to the Toll Bridge and look around. With encouraging words from both Emma and Lia, they managed to convince her. Lia refused to be left at the station, so she tagged along. Ruby didn't argue.

When they arrived, Ruby almost shot out of the bug, while Lia took her time. She could hear the conversation between her mother and Ruby. "I mean, what am I even looking for?" Ruby asked the cell phone.

"Anything out of the ordinary. Something that doesn't belong there," was Emma's reply.

Lia watched as Ruby walked down to the riverbed. Lia slowly followed, not wanting to get in the way. "And. . . if I find something?" asked Ruby, sounding somewhat frightened. "Just follow your instincts," said Emma.

As Lia approached, she watched Ruby flip over a wooden board. Was that sand underneath it? Lia stood some feet away from the former waitress. Setting the phone down, Ruby began to dig with a stick in the patch of sand. She pulled something out of the ground. It looked like some kind of jewelry box.

"You. . . can't give me a clue of what I'm looking for?" Ruby's voice trembled slightly. "Anything of Kathryn's," said Emma.

Slowly, Ruby opened the box lid, only to drop it suddenly and scream. "Ruby? Ruby!" called both Emma and Lia, worried about what could be so horrible inside that jewelry box.

* * *

It had been several days since he had sent Lia the dream. He was surprised at how much energy it took out of him. Well, seeing as this world lacked so much magic, he supposed it made sense.

He wondered what Lia thought of it. He knew he should've said more about who he was, what he meant, but he knew he couldn't yet. It was too soon. Knowing her, she would've figured out at least some of it by now. He couldn't hide everything.

He found his paws leading him toward the Toll Bridge, and so he followed his instinct. He had learned to do that a long time ago. When he reached it, he knew why. Lia was there, as was Red. He didn't know her cursed identity just yet. Examining her, he decided that he liked her better without the red streaks through her hair.

He sat down on his hindquarters, tail flicking behind him, watching the cursed Red pull out some kind of box. She screamed when she opened it. He wondered what it could be - hopefully it wasn't too horrible.

His gaze drifted to Lia. Something new caught his eye, or rather, his senses. Magic. But not his magic. Another person's magic. Dark magic.

Bristling with anger, he swung his head around to face the town. How dare that imp do anything to Lia, magical or otherwise?! Eyes narrowed, he bolted from his seated position towards the cursed town.

He weaved through the trees he had grown so used to over the past 28 years, and yet still felt foreign. Soon, the buildings of the harbor town could be seen. He scanned the streets that he could see for _him_. The Dark One.

There. Standing in front of his pawnshop. To most, Mr. Gold looked like he was only staring into the distance. But the wolf knew better. The pawnbroker was staring at the silver figure among the trees, knowing exactly who it was.

Fur bristling, and eyes burning with raw fury, the wolf stared angrily at Rumpelstiltskin. A growl sounded in his throat. Then a new sound came from the wolf. His mouth didn't move any differently, but the single syllable, laced with venom, cut through the sounds of the forest like a knife.

_"You. . . "_

* * *

TA-DA!

Just so you know:

The Wolf/Spirit/Protector, etc, isn't directly based off of any fairytale. The concept (as Henry explains) is that he is a balance between light and dark magic. So we have the Dark One, the fairies, and him. And, as magic is like a part of nature in the Enchanted Forest, the Spirit protects the nature (the Land) as well.

Hope that's not too confusing. If you are confused, leave a review or shoot me a PM - I'll clear things up for you. Thanks so much for reading!

P.S. Some hints as to who we meet next chapter in here! ;)


	15. He Wore A Hat

I'm sorry for the delay! My muse has been pretty low this week, so. . . yeah. I'll try to update faster! But please enjoy, and let me know what you think! Hopefully reviews will help my low muse. ;) Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT.

* * *

Lia didn't sleep very well that night. Her mind just wouldn't relax. She couldn't stop thinking about what had happened that day. Stupid Spirit-thing. . . why couldn't anyone just say things clearly? She assumed Henry would say it wouldn't make a good story if it all came easy. She laughed to herself – she supposed she was in some kind of fairytale. And Emma, she knew, had to be the hero.

And yet, Lia felt like a ton of weight had landed on her shoulders. She wouldn't break the curse, true, but she still felt like some of it was up to her. Henry, she guessed, would have a bigger part, as he was the one who figured out the whole thing, and went to get Emma. But the feeling of responsibility refused to leave Lia alone.

She really needed to stop thinking about these things so hard. She wondered why her brain hasn't fried yet from all of this over-thinking.

After her night of restless sleep, Lia had pulled herself up and managed to make her bedhead look presentable. Grabbing her bag, she left the apartment, leaving it empty.

As she walked, Lia thought of the packet that sat in the bag that was slung over her shoulder. Last night, she had grabbed a couple pages of paper and added the tale Henry had told her. Today, she would begin her search. Her search to find out who this Spirit was and what he wanted with her. Lia almost laughed to herself – her twin was rubbing off on her. The two had agreed to labeling Lia's search as Operation Guardian. (though she had to admit – it did sound pretty cool)

Her first idea (which she would start today) was to search through her packet of dreams, and see if there were any clues she had missed hidden in there. At the top of her list of ideas was finding the Spirit – as he had said that she knew how to find him in her dream. At the bottom of her list was confronting Mr. Gold (or Rumpelstiltskin, since he remembered). Even though Lia hadn't seen him much since her confrontation with him in his shop, it still sent shivers down her spine. She really hoped it didn't come to that.

Lia steadily walked towards the Sheriff's station, wanting to stay near Emma with all of the chaos over the disappearance of Kathryn Nolan, and because Regina was starting to scare Lia (and being with Emma was probably the smartest option anyway). Speaking of Emma, Lia hadn't seen her since last night. Same with Mary Margaret. When Lia woke up that morning, she found a note left by her mother, saying that she was at the station.

Which was why Lia knew where to go. When she finally made it inside, Lia unzipped the brown fleece jacket she was wearing, and proceeded to walk down the hall to the Sheriff's office. Voices coming from it echoed faintly throughout the hallway.

". . . But, in the meantime, you need to bear with me. I have to ask you a few questions."

That was Emma's voice. Did she find something? Or rather, someone? Did this have to do with the box Ruby found? (Lia had yet to know what was in it. Ruby had sent her home after finding it) Questions were rocketing inside her head.

"This is crazy. I would never hurt anyone."

Mary Margaret. What was going on? Lia walked into the office to find Emma taking mug shots of the school teacher. "Emma? What – What is going on?" she asked, obviously confused.

Emma gave her roommate a quick pained look, then turned to Lia. She knelt down, getting to her eye level. Lia could see the pain in Emma's eyes, and Lia guessed she had fear and confusion in her own. Emma sighed.

"You know the box Ruby found yesterday?" her mother started. Lia nodded slowly. "Well. . . in that box. . . was a heart. And we think it was Kathryn's." Lia felt a lump of lead suddenly drop into her stomach. Kathryn. . . David's wife . . . was dead? Her face paled as the thought sunk in.

"And on the box were fingerprints. The DNA match said that they belonged to Mary Margaret," Emma finished.

"So. . . You're doing this because the evidence points to Mary Margaret, right? She – she'd never do this. . . " said Lia, glancing at Mary Margaret. Emma nodded, filling Lia with relief. "So . . . what now?"

Emma stood up, looking at her daughter and her roommate. "Now? Now we prove Mary Margaret innocent."

* * *

Soon after, Emma had sent Lia back to the apartment while she questioned Mary Margaret. Regina had come as well, further encouraging the 10-year-old. Shortly after she had gotten to the apartment, however, her brother came. And soon after that, her mother.

"Hey Emma," said both Lia and Henry when she arrived. "He's gonna help us prove Mary Margaret's innocence, since she didn't do it," explained Lia, when Emma questioned Henry's being there.

"So. . . what are we looking for?" asked Henry, as he walked around the apartment.

Emma was going to various windows, doors, etc. looking for something. "I'm trying to see if maybe someone broke in," she said, checking the window locks, "Looking for busted door jambs, broken glass, muddy boot prints. That kind of thing."

"So, you think someone's setting her up," he deducted. Lia turned to him. "She could never do such a thing. It's the only thing that makes sense," she said.

Their mother sighed. "The only problem is, nobody's got a motive," Emma added.

"My mom does," Henry said knowingly. Lia shrugged. He was right – whether or not court would say the same thing, however, was another story.

"Regina?"

"She hates Snow White. Hey, you wanted a motive," said Henry. Lia hid a giggle.

"Well, I don't think 'she hates Snow White' will hold up in a court, Henry," Emma said with a sigh.

After that, the three began to search the apartment, checking and double-checking everything they could think of. The windows, the doors, the windows again. . . Nothing. As Lia looked around the room, she saw Emma flop down on the bed out of the corner of her eye.

That's when the heat turned on. And an unusual clattering sound came from the vent. The three looked down at it. Emma climbed off the bed and cautiously removed the small metal grate. "Did you find something?" Henry asked. Lia's eyes didn't move from the wrapped object that was now in her mother's hands. As she carefully uncovered it, the lead that was in her stomach earlier came back as she saw the bloodstained knife.

* * *

Lia gladly stayed away from the chaos of the murder (which hopefully wasn't true, Lia kept telling herself), and spent most of the day hanging out with Henry and in the apartment. Over the course of the day, they talked about the curse, and theories of how to break it. Sadly, the twins, even with their wealth of knowledge of the Enchanted Forest, got nowhere.

Eventually, he left for home, hoping that Regina wouldn't notice his absence. Lia soon left as well, craving a hot chocolate. It was almost night, and neither Emma nor Mary Margaret had returned, so she hoped they would be okay with her getting something at Granny's.

In her fleece jacket once more, Lia walked the already-familiar streets of Storybrooke down to the diner. When she opened the door, the bell jingled as always, and Lia took a seat at the bar, ordering a hot cocoa from Ruby.

As she sat holding the mug, the warmth seeping from the cup to her hands, she thought about what had happened. How could anyone think that Mary Margaret could kidnap someone, much less carve the heart out. . .

She almost laughed to herself – how many times would she tell herself to stop thinking so hard? She would be laughing if the topic wasn't so gruesome. . .

* * *

Mary Margaret sat on her bed, head in her hands. She had been so stupid. . . Now what was she going to do? Evidence – _fake_ evidence kept on piling up. She wished this horrible nightmare would just end. . .

As she adjusted her seated position on the bed inside the cell, she heard something clatter to the floor. When she looked under the bed, she found a key. A small black key with a skull on it. How did that get there? In her bed?

A thought suddenly bloomed in her mind. She slowly looked over at the lock on the bars of the cell. Carefully picking the key up, Mary Margaret stood up, still eyeing the lock. She tentatively walked toward it, debating in her head whether this could be possible or not. Reaching the bars, she made sure no one was there. Well, it was worth a shot. . .

Mary Margaret inserted the key, and paused. She slowly turned it.

The key worked.

Could this actually happen? Was this her chance? No one should be coming anymore tonight. . .

But if she was caught. . . No. She wouldn't be. What other chance would she get? It wasn't looking good anyways, all of the evidence pointing at her. No. This was her chance. She was going to take it.

She turned the key again, and the door swung open. Taking one more look to make sure she was clear, Mary Margaret took a deep breath, and stepped out of the cell. Then another step. A third.

And then, she ran.

Ran straight into the Sheriff who was standing in the hallway, carrying some books from the apartment. The shock and disbelief that registered on her roommate's face was off the charts. Emma kept glancing at Mary Margaret, at the office, and back. "How – How did you. . . ?" she asked, barely able to form the sentence.

Mary Margaret fingered the key in her hand. "This. . . this was in my cell. I –I. . ." Emma set the books down. "You. . . you were going to run," Emma said quietly. Mary Margaret felt her eyes begin to water.

"I - I. . . Yes. Yes, I was. Just. . . everything keeps pointing towards me, and - and I don't know what to do. . . " she admitted.

The shock had left Emma's face, and now was full of care and concern. "Hey. Listen - it's going to be okay. Someone is setting you up - big time. I'll bet they expected you to run. But look - we're going to get through this. I promise. You have to trust me. I know it seems impossible, but I can get you out of this. "

Mary Margaret looked at her. "Why is it so important to you what happens to me?"

Emma inhaled deeply, and looked back at the school teacher. "Because when Regina framed me, and you bailed me, I asked you why and you said you trusted me," she said, her own eyes starting to water, "And then when I wanted to leave Storybrooke 'cause I thought it was best for Henry, you told me I need to stay because that was best for him. And now I have Lia because I stayed. And I realized, all my life, I have been alone. Walls up. Nobody's ever been there for me, except for you. And I can't lose that. I cannot lose my family," she said, the words tumbling out.

"Family?" asked Mary Margaret, knowing how important the concept was to Emma, and thrilled to be considered a part of it.

"Friends. Whatever. You know what I mean. Wouldn't you rather face this together than alone?" she said.

Mary Margaret sighed. "Thank you," she said quietly.

Emma smiled. "No. Thank you."

The two turned and walked back inside the office, feeling the most confident about the situation so far. Because they would face this together.

* * *

She had to go home.

Lia was thinking too much. Her mug sat in front of her, barely touched. After thinking about the fact that Kathryn was dead, it led to thoughts that made her stomach churn. Lia waved Ruby over. "Can - Can I have this in a to-go cup?" she asked, "I. . . think I should go home."

To her relief, Ruby smiled. "No problem. Be right back." She picked up the mug and proceeded to the kitchens to grab the plastic cup. Ruby was so nice to her - Lia wished she could return the favor. Maybe she could - by helping Emma break the curse.

After a couple minutes, Lia held the new cup, and laid a five dollar bill on the counter, the extra tip for Ruby (leaving the large tip was quickly becoming a usual thing for her family). Grabbing her jacket, Lia left the diner, entering the cold, dark air of the night.

The tiniest bit of sunlight still lit up the sky, but the lights were now on, making visibility not a problem. As Lia walked down the street, the cold wind whipped at her face. She took a sip of the warm cocoa. It helped.

Lia absentmindedly watched the cars go past as she continued walking. She took another sip. Only a few people were out at this time, most at home with their families or following their nightly routine, lights shining through the windows of the houses.

All of a sudden, Lia's vision blurred for a second, then came back into focus. She felt dizzy, like she had gone on some kind of spinny-ride at an amusement park. Lia stopped, resting her hands on her knees, waiting for it to pass.

"You alright?" came a voice from behind her. Her vision tilted again - her legs felt weak. The man came up to her. "You okay?" he asked again, kneeling in front of her. The only thing she could register about him was the hat he wore. The rest was blurry.

The strange man took one of her arms, and started leading her somewhere. "Come on - you'll be okay. Let's get you home." Alarms were blaring in her head, screaming at Lia to fight him, but she couldn't find the strength. She felt herself loosing consciousness, and soon enough, she hung limp, resting against the body of the strange man.

Seeing that she was out, he smiled. "What a fine bargaining chip you'll be," he said quietly to himself. He slowly led the girl to his car, which was parked close by. To most, he assumed he looked like a concerned father, leading his tired daughter to the car. No one seemed to eye him strangely, which only made his smile widen. He knew it was risky doing this out in the open, but it had to be done.

He laid Lia in the back, and sat himself in the driver's seat. Oh yes - what her mother would do to get her back. He could imagine a number of things, but only one dominated his mind. Only one would convince him to return Lia.

She would have to get it to work.

* * *

Longest chapter yet! :) Hope that was worth the wait! Will you forgive me if I give you cookies? I'll bring cookies next chapter. ;D

Thanks again, and please review! (please?) :)


	16. AN: A Brand New Plot and Portals

HEY PEOPLES!

I'm back. :)

Sort of.

So, after updating chapter 15, I hit the infamous writer's block. Then school started. And for the past three weeks, I've been trying to sort out my life and remember how I survived last year.

Now that I finally have time to sit down and type, I looked back at the plot for this story, and it was WAY too close to the canon. Sure, I had some pretty cool plot twists, but I didn't like how close it was. So I sat down and started chipping at my writer's block. (Surprisingly, it didn't take as long as I thought it would). I came up with an amazing idea, and have been running with it. I'm super excited to see where it leads, because I'm sending this story in a whole new direction, complete with plot twists, cliffhangers, theories, and portals. Yeah, I said portals. There's your one spoiler. That enough to interest you? Would mentioning Graham help at all? ;D

And because of the huge change, I'm going to be continuing this in a separate fanfiction.

All of you who followed/favorited/reviewed/etc., thank you so much. It means a ton to me. But I can promise you that what's coming is going to be **awesome.** I should be able to get the first chapter up pretty soon, and then probably a chapter a week.

Thanks again everyone - please stick with me, and my promise of cookies shall remain true! ;)

- Star


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